


Double Down

by FemaleINTJ



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Alpha John, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Blood and Violence related to the case, Bonding, Case Fic, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Developing Relationship, First Time, Frottage, Kidnapping, Kissing, Knotting, Light Angst, Loss of Virginity, M/M, Masturbation, Masturbation in Shower, Multiple Orgasms, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega Sherlock, Parent/Child Incest, Past Suicidal Thoughts, Polyamory, Praise Kink, Pregnancy Kink, Rimming, Scenting, Self-Lubrication, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Switch Sherlock Holmes, Threesome - M/M/M, mentions of past rape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2020-09-30 23:58:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 119,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20455706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FemaleINTJ/pseuds/FemaleINTJ
Summary: In a era where the Alpha population is barely recovering, Alpha John meets Sherlock, a whirlwind of an Omega who asks him to see a flat with him. But upon arrival John discovers that Sherlock isn't the only Omega living there. Sherlock's son Iris is also an Omega, not yet ready to breed but oddly enough he smells almost exactly like his father. Will John be able to get over his own Alpha instincts and keep his hands off the two Omegas?Completed 8/10/20Thank you everyone who followed along the way, it was a year long journey that I am so happy to have been a part of. I hope to continue to bring you good stories about Sherlock and John, as I continue my voyage as a writer.





	1. It's all Fine

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone, thanks for coming to my first ever posted fanfiction in existence. I would like everyone to take a careful look at the tags, specifically the underage (16) and incest (father/son) tags. If you have anything against either of these tags, it is time to turn back around, I will not be offended in the slightest. My work is completely based on fiction and I do not condone the behavior in it in real life, this is all just fantasy. This story has not been beta read, please feel free to point out inaccuracies and spelling errors. Please enjoy the fic.

John Watson hobbles down the small stone path of a local park, his cane clinking against the trail each time he puts it down. It’s chilly out, not enough to warrant a winter coat, but enough that when the wind blows you feel the need to shiver. As he walks along he doesn’t notice the other people around him, all going about their days, many of them scurrying off to important meetings and places they need to be. But not John, he just walks along, nowhere to be, no one to worry where he is.

  
“John? … JOHN WATSON!” He turns around to see a slightly plump beta man running up to him. He doesn’t recognize him and the confusion in his face must have been obvious as the beta starts talking again. “Mike, Mike Standford. We were at Bart’s together.” He smiles and offers his hand.

  
“Yes, sorry, Mike hello.” He switches his cane to his left hand in order to shake Mike’s with his right.

  
“Yeah, I know I got fat.” He smiles again cheerily. John tries to refute the statement but it doesn’t really come out. “I heard you were abroad somewhere getting shot at, what happened?’ He looks him over not paying much attention to the cane.

  
“Got shot.” John looks around for a moment and comes back to the Beta’s face, which is no longer smiling.

  
“Oh, I’m so sorry. Ah, would you like to get a coffee?” Mike seems genuinely apologetic and John figures he doesn’t have anything better to do. So, he agrees. They head off to a small place on the campus nearby.

  
When they walk into the coffee shop it is quiet and smells of fresh cooked pastries. The whole place feels calming and women behind the counter is cute. John wonders if he could ask her on a date before remembering his current monetary status. He and Mike sit down at a nice spot, warmed by the atmosphere and the good coffee they begin to chat a bit. Mike tells him about life since they both graduated. He found a nice Beta girl a year out and asked her to marry him another year later. They live in a modest place here near the school and have two children, a boy and a girl. They hope the boy will present as an Alpha, since the Alpha population has barely recovered in the last hundred years. As he says all of this, he looks at John expectantly, like he thinks because John is an Alpha he would agree with him. He nods a bit, but doesn’t really say much about his status. His second gender has always been a touchy subject.  
Sensing his discomfort, Mike changes the subject. “What about you? Just staying in town while you get yourself sorted?” He takes a sip of coffee.

  
“Can’t afford London on an Army pension.” It comes out very dry, so he also takes a sip of his own coffee.

  
“Ah, couldn’t Harry help?” Mike refers to John’s Alpha sister as if he doesn’t know all of the trouble she has always been.

  
“Not likely.” He tries not to sound bitter but it doesn’t work. Luckily Mike doesn’t comment.

  
“Well, I dunno, get a flat share or something.”

  
“Come on, who’d want me as a flatmate.” He nearly smiles a bit saying this, as the notion on the whole thing sounds almost comical. But as he is thinking this, Mike actually does laugh, but it doesn’t sound like he's laughing at what John was saying. “What?” Mike laughs a little more.

  
“You know, you’re the second person to say that to me today.”

  
“Who’s the first?”

  
\----

  
Mike takes John into Bart’s to meet this other supposed “bad flat mate”, which could be interesting. They walk into Bart’s and going through the old halls brings back good memories for John. They enter into one of the tech labs and immediately John is assaulted with the tantalizing smell of an unbonded Omega. A quick inhale and the smell of a warm spring meadow floods his nose, reminding him of lazy days spread out on a picnic blanket as soft clouds pass by. He looks around the room to see a dark haired man sitting at a microscope. John figures this must be the Omega he smells as there is no one else in the room, interesting considering male Omegas are rare, a strange genetic defect though not as rare as female Alphas. He almost panics as his mind narrows down to the man’s smell, the urge to claim stronger than he's used too. He tamps down his Alpha instincts and clears his throat instead and speaks to Mike. “Bit different from my day.” He stands still at the edge of the table, purposefully looking around and not at the amazing smelling Omega.

  
“Mike, can I borrow your phone? There’s no signal on mine” The dark haired man has a heavenly deep voice, like someone mixed just the right amount of rich dark chocolate and sweet honey together. In fact, the question comes out in an odd purr, but perhaps it’s just the pheromones in the air, affecting his brain.

  
“What’s wrong with the landline?” Mike questions.

  
“I prefer to text.”

  
“Sorry, it’s in my coat.” Mike doesn’t really seem apologetic. Which seems odd for the normally cheerful Beta. Mike sits down and picks up something to fiddle with in his hands oddly ignoring both of them, now.

  
“Ah, here.” John breathes in deeply, getting another dose of the man. “Use mine.” He doesn’t move, but instead waits for the Omega to come to him. The man finally looks over at him, but with a slightly odd look on his face at the polite gesture.

  
“Oh, thank you.” The words don’t come out in that smooth honey way that they did before, almost as if he rarely uses those particular words.

  
The Omega gets up, he’s taller than John expected and without his face behind the microscope it is easier to see that he is absolutely gorgeous. He’s got dark almost black curly hair which accentuates just how pale his lovely skin in. Mike pipes up a bit saying something but John can’t be bothered to listen as the man waltzes over, bringing more of his scent with him. As he draws closer John can see his high cheek bones, pink cupid’s bow lips, and mysterious looking light blue gray eyes. He offers the cellphone out with a smile and when it is retrieved from his hand his inner Alpha hums with happiness.

  
“Afghanistan or Iraq?” The question is barely heard before a mildly attractive young Omega walks in. He looks over to Mike a bit confused and only sees a slight smile on the Beta’s face. John clears his throat as the two Omegas chat, something about lipstick. The young Omega smells slightly like citrus but unlike a moment ago, he doesn’t have the instinctual urge to possess like he did when first smelling the tall male. She seems flustered by the end and walks out without ever noticing John.

  
He gets his phone handed back to him and the Omega goes back to the microscope. “Afghanistan.” He says it just to see what sort of reaction he will get but the Omega seems to already be on to other things as he begins talking again.

  
“How do you feel about the violin?” He adjusts the knob on the side of the scope and then makes a note in a pad to the right.

  
“I’m sorry, what?” He looks again to Mike but the Beta just continues to feign innocence.

  
“I play the violin when I’m thinking, sometimes I don’t talk for days...potential flat mates should know the worst about each other.” He gives a quick smile and is back to the microscope, again.

  
John looks over to Mike. “You told him about me?”

  
“Not a word.” He smiles a bit mischievous.

  
“Then who said anything about flat mates?” The word mates excites his inner Alpha.

  
The Omega gets up gathering his notebook and putting a blue scarf around his neck. “I did. I told Mike this morning that I must be a difficult man to find a flat mate for, now here he is just after lunch with an old friend, clearly just home from military service in Afghanistan. Wasn’t a difficult leap.” He walks past John, who tries his best not to breathe in. “I have a nice little place in central London. Together we should be able to afford it. You can meet me there tomorrow afternoon 3 o’clock. Sorry, gotta dash, I left my riding crop in the morgue.”

  
“Is that it?” He turns around as the Omega is about to leave the room.

  
“Is that what?” He looks apprehensive.

  
“We’ve only just met, and we’re going to go and look at a flat?” He questions the whole thing, not because he wouldn’t want to be around the wonderful smelling Omega all the time, but because of the implications behind an Omega and Alpha living together.

  
“Problem?” He tilts his head a little bit, almost like a child but more like a dog who is curious about what has been put in front of him.

  
“We don’t know a thing about each other. I don’t know where we’re meeting, I don’t even know your name.” John says. ‘This Omega is crazy, I could be a serial killer for all he knows.’ He thinks

  
“I know you’re an Alpha Army doctor, and you’ve been invalided home from Afghanistan. You’ve got an older Alpha brother who’s worried about you, but you won’t go to him for help, because you don’t approve of him, possibly because he’s an alcoholic, more likely because he recently walked out on his Omega wife, and I know your therapist thinks your limp’s psychosomatic, quite correctly, I’m afraid. That’s enough to be going on with, don’t you think?" He opens the door and is halfway through when he leans back around. “The name is Sherlock Holmes, and the address is 221B Baker Street. Afternoon.” He disappears though the door, all high cheekbones and long jacket.

  
“He’s always like that.” Mike nods like it’s normal for someone to instantly know everything about you as soon as they see you. They walk out of the lab and says their goodbyes. Mike is teaching a night class in about an hour, so they exchange numbers and Mike promises to have a get together where John can meet his wife and kids. John agrees and heads on home. Not that he would ever call that it that.

\----

  
John spends the rest of his afternoon in his flat, wondering about the Omega, Sherlock Holmes. Such an odd name but it seems to fit such an eccentric fellow. The strangest thing though was his own reaction to the man’s scent. He’s never had the scent of an Omega affect him like Sherlock's, in fact he’s never smelled an Omega_ like_ him. He’s been around Omegas plenty of times before, he usually has some sort of reaction but this was completely different. The scent was tantalizing, to the point where he felt the need to physically stop himself and stay back from Sherlock. Normally he would never go for a man, Omega males have never really drawn his attention before. Women either, Betas or Omegas, have always been more his thing. But the fresh meadow grass scent was so intoxicating, it would mix incredibly well with his own woodland pine scent. He knocks the thought out of his head as soon as he thinks it.

  
He sits down at his computer, intent on distracting himself and attempting some writing about his day to get the therapist off his back. He pulls up a blank page and stares at it, willing words to form on the page. Needless to say, it doesn’t work like he wished, his brain won’t stop focusing on Sherlock. He looks to his computer and gets an idea. He loads up Google and chicken pecks Sherlock Holmes into the search bar. He’s not entirely sure what he is looking for or what he will do with any information he might find. But the first link that comes ups looks promising and after reading the page a bit he believes it was written by Sherlock. Most of the writing seems way above his head, as Sherlock talks about “The Science of Deduction.” An interesting concept but after a few hours John’s head is spinning and it’s getting late. He closes the laptop and grabs his towel intent on a shower to help clear his head. A minute later he steps into the water which melts away the head ache that was forming. He’s halfway through washing himself when he realizes he’s fondling himself a bit. He wasn’t even really thinking about what his hands were doing. He pulls his hand away and quickly rinses off all the soap. Embarrassed by his own actions, well not really the actions but the fact that he was thinking of Sherlock while doing it. He wasn’t thinking of him in a perverse way, just thinking about his website and how intriguing the Omega was.

  
John gets out of the shower and throws on his bathrobe. He picks up the clothes he wore for the day and the scent of Sherlock hits him again. He stops short, smelling the alluring aroma of unbounded Omega which must have soaked into his clothes. His body reacts, responding to the scent and his previous fondling. He had been half hard already, but Omega scent is like a drug to Alphas, prompting their brains to shut down and their dick to take over. He groans a bit as his length rubs against the inside of the soft bathrobe. He has to make a decision now, does he relieve himself while his thoughts are on his potential new flat mate or ... he shakes his head getting the dirty thoughts out.  
He drops the clothes and heads to the bed decidedly not taking the Omega scent with him. He dresses in lose pants and a tee shirt before getting into the bed. The entire time his dick demands attention, making it hard to put on pants and laying down onto his stomach pushes it nicely against the bed. He groans again, realizing that this is the first time he’s felt like touching himself since he was injured. He sighs and rolls over, attempting to will his prominent erection to settle down. It doesn’t exactly work at first but after laying there long enough counting backward from 100 he lulls himself into a light sleep.

  
\----

  
John is nervous all day as he goes about doing absolutely nothing productive. He tries to type on his laptop, he gets a shower, brushes his teeth at least six times and finally just lays on the bed for a bit of a nap. He’s nervous about the meeting, which is stupid because he’s just going to look at an apartment, nothing to be nervous about. But the nervousness doesn’t abide and eventually he takes out his gun and cleans it, something that would normally relax him. Meticulously he cleans the metal, making sure each piece gets his full attention before moving on to the next. By the time the gun is clean John has calmed down and regained some of his usual composure. He stores the gun away in his desk, before grabbing his wallet and hailing a cab outside.

  
\----

  
John reaches the door of 221 Baker Street, it’s large and old with a brass knocker. He thinks to himself as he gives the knocker a few raps that the neighborhood is nice and nothing he would normally be able to afford. He looks around a bit waiting for an answer. The sandwich shop here would be very convenient for nights when he doesn’t feel like cooking. His thoughts are interrupted when the door opens, revealing a older lady with short greying hair and a bright smile.  
“Hello. Can I help you?’

  
“Ah, yes. I’m here to meet Mr. Holmes.” He smiles.

  
“Oh, are you a client?” She opens the door a bit further and her voices goes a bit hushed.

  
“No, no we are supposed to be looking at an apartment. This was the address he gave me.” He looks a bit confused. ‘What kind of clients is he seeing at his home? Is he some sort of psychologist?’

  
“You must be John. Sherlock mentioned you would be by but he didn’t mention you being an Alpha.” She giggles like a school girl as she ushers him inside. “Come on, don’t want that cold air getting in.”

  
As he follows her up the stairs he can smell the faint aroma that tells him she is an Omega who is past her prime. It’s always hard to tell with the elderly what their second gender is, most of them come off as Betas because they often put off little to no scent. But now that he does know she is an Omega it explains her giggly reaction to him. Alphas numbers have barely just begun coming back, so she likely rarely encountered any in her lifetime.

  
They reach the top of the stairs and he can already smell Sherlock from the other side of the door. However, there is more than one Omega scent mixed together, the second is extremely similar to the first and he can only really distinguish it because there is a slight unnaturalness to it. He braces himself as she opens the door, knowing that the scent will be tenfold inside.

  
“Yoo hoo.” The noise is a bit sing song, like something you would use on a baby. “Sherlock?” She enters into the room as John waits by the door. It’s an old Alpha habit to never walk into another’s territory without their explicit permission, no matter if it be another Alpha’s territory or an Omega territory. It is too threatening of a gesture and John isn’t that kind of Alpha.

  
From his spot by the door he watches the older women wonder off to the left, presumably to hunt down Sherlock. This allows him time to see the room and try to pick up where the other Omega like smell is coming from. He doesn’t immediately notice anything different about the apartment to the countless others, well besides the “interesting” décor. He leans his head over the threshold to get a better look.

  
“Do you always obey tradition?” A voice asks him from somewhere in the room. John jumps back a bit, realizing that his leaning could be taken as a threat. Curiosity was getting the better of him. He clears his throat.

  
“Not always. No.” He answers back to the questioner. Looking back into the room he notices a figure get up from the couch and cross over to the doorway. There standing in front of him, is what could only be a teenage version of Sherlock. From the dark curly hair to the calculating blue gray eyes, he is a perfect copy. John loses his breath for a minute as the slightly unnatural Omega scent hits him in the face, stirring something low in his stomach.

  
“You are John.” The teen says it as a statement, there is no question behind it. He looks John up and down, assessing him. “You may enter my father’s territory. He will be here momentarily.” And with that the Omega turns around, strolling back over to a brown couch where he picks up a book among the many that are scattered everywhere.

  
John really isn’t entirely sure of what to do, he doesn’t smell an Alpha which he would usually assume to be the kids father, but many children will refer to the first gender so the kid must be referring to Sherlock. He technically was invited in, so he takes the chance and makes sure to close the door behind him. His cane makes a good bit of noise each time he puts it down on the old wooden floor, but walking around the place is so interesting he can’t entirely help himself. The Holmes territory is full of fascinating objects, including books of all shapes and sizes, what appears to be a real human skull on the mantle, and who could miss the bull skull with headphones just hanging out on the wall. As he goes over to touch the skull he hears the older lady walk back into the room, heels tapping away with each step.

  
“Sherlock, I am _not_ your housekeeper.” She walks toward the door.

  
“But Ms. Hudson.” Sherlock, the real one, John makes the distinction, follows closely behind her.

  
“Not your housekeeper, just your landlady.” She makes her way down the stairs where Sherlock decides to not follow. He turns around, coming back into the room, where John notices he is wearing a suit. ‘Who wears a suit around their own house?’

  
“Ahem. Mr. Holmes.” John stands a bit awkwardly next to the skull, leaning on his cane. Sherlock looks over at him, noticing him and giving him a funny look before coming over with his hand held out.

  
“Oh please, John, call me Sherlock.” He shakes the Alpha's hand and looks to the younger Omega on the couch. The kid looks to his father and some sort of silent conversation seems to pass between the two, the only reason he can tell is because they both make a few motions with their eyes to which then Sherlock says. “I see that you have met Iris.” He indicates his son with a small gesture of the head. ‘Sherlock would name his son something just as unique as his own name.’

  
John clears his throat. “Uh, yes he said I could come in. I almost mistook him for you, actually you are quiet similar, except you know.” He sort of gives a small smile but both of the Omegas look at him funny. He licks his lips out of habit and tries to explain. “You know, he’s a stunted Omega, so you almost smell identical accept for that and the...” John clears his throat and says in almost a whisper. “virginal scent.” His voice returns to its normal volume after a quick clear of his throat. “Almost couldn’t tell there were two Omegas here when I got to the door.” Sherlock looks to Iris and back at John with a bit of bewilderment.

  
“Iris’s not an Omega, he hasn’t presented yet?” Sherlock says meanwhile Iris has a high blush on his cheeks, sniffing himself presumably trying to smell his own scent.

  
“Well, technically you are correct, he hasn’t officially presented as an Omega because they have been presenting later, but they still smell like Omegas before they have their first heat. I learned about them in medical school, it’s becoming almost normal now, with Alphas being so rare, that Omega bodies have adapted to present late or sometimes even not at all due to lack of potential mates.” He finishes his mini lecture and realizes that the Holmes are both staring at him blankly as if neither of them have ever heard of this, when it’s been happening since WWII after the Alpha population was all but killed off.

  
“Why hasn’t anyone told me?” Iris questions as he gets up from the couch. “I don’t feel or look any different. Why didn’t dad notice that I smell like an Omega now?” He starts to look a bit annoyed, as if John is lying to him.

  
“Well, I don’t know really. I mean your dad and you smell almost identical, I wouldn’t be surprised if everyone just thought that you smelled like him, after all it is his territory that you live in and it all smells like him anyway. So, it’s not much of a stretch.” He stops talking and Sherlock has a blank look on this face while Iris no longer looks angry but maybe like he might vomit instead.

  
John tries to say something more, but as he goes to open his mouth he hears running up the stairs. A tall man with graying hair comes barreling through the door, to which Sherlock doesn’t immediately turn. In fact the man says Sherlock's name several times before he finally turns.

  
“Can you come? We need you.” The tall, now clearly Alpha smelling man asks.

  
“You’ve had a fourth. I’ll be right behind you.” He turns back around and the Alpha looks annoyed but he leaves just as quickly as he came the faint smell of leather barely lingering in his wake. The whole exchange took less than a minute and leaves John feeling even more out of place. Especially when all of the sudden Sherlock jumps into the air excitedly yelling something about it being Christmas.

  
“John, make yourself at home, Iris can show you your room, I don’t know when I’ll return.” He crosses over to Iris and gives him a kiss on the forehead. Which seems to snap the kid back to reality. He smiles at his father and Sherlock smiles back fondly. John turns away feeling like he is encroaching on a private moment. And with nothing left to say Sherlock rushes from the room, grabbing his coat along the way and toppling the coat rack, so it falls against the wall.  
John sort of looks at the coat rack and decides if he is going to live here he might as well make it tidy. He goes to the rack and puts it back standing, even hangs a few things on it that are laying on the floor. Makes him feel like he accomplished something for the day. He hobbles back across the room grabbing a pillow with a union jack on it along the way. He plops the pillow down, giving it a good whack before sitting down to rest. He looks over to Iris, who hasn’t picked up his book but is instead staring at a spot on the wall.

  
“Iris?” The boy looks over question written on his face.

  
“Yes, John?” He says.

  
“I didn’t mean to upset you, I truly thought you would know – “ From the corner of his eye he sees Sherlock slowly come back into the room. He looks over and Sherlock looks different than before. Before he looked like an excited kid, now he looks dark and mysterious.

  
“You’re a doctor.” He says it in such a low tone that it sends a shiver down John's spine. “An army doctor.” He walks closer, slow as if stalking prey.

  
“Yes.” John says as he stands up using his cane for support.

  
“A good one I’d say by how you diagnosed Iris.” Sherlock stops just a foot away from John, towering over him as he quirks an inquisitive eyebrow. The air between them feels charged and John can’t help but flick a quick look at Sherlock lips.

  
“Very good.” He looks up with a bit of challenge in his eyes.

  
“Seen a lot of injuries then? Violent deaths?” Sherlock eyes grow a bit wide.

  
“Well, yes.”

  
“Bit of trouble too, I bet.”

  
“Of course, yes. Enough for a lifetime. Far too much.” John answers back sternly, staring Sherlock down.

  
“Want to see some more?” His eyes alight.

  
“Oh, god, yes.” John answers back immediately.

  
Sherlock smiles, then whirls around to run back down the stairs. But John doesn’t immediately follow, first he looks over to Iris, who has picked his book back up. He nods to John with a small understanding smile. ‘This must happen often.’ John thinks, but he smiles back before following Sherlock down the stairs and into a waiting cab.

\----

  
Sherlock's looking out the window of the cab as they race toward their unknown destination. John can’t help but keep looking over at the Omega, the scent making it hard not to pay attention to him. He isn’t trying to be subtle about it but he does feel a bit embarrassed when Sherlock says, “Okay, you’ve got questions.”

  
“Where are we going?” He asks just to start with.

  
“Crime scene. Next?” Sherlock says with a slightly annoyed tone.

  
“Who are you? What do you do?”

  
“What do you think?” The Omega shoots back with.

  
“I’d say private detective...”

  
“But...” Sherlock deep voice says as he looks out the window again.

  
“But the police don’t go to private detectives.” He sees the Omega smile from the corner of his eye.

  
“I’m a consulting detective. The only one in the world. I invented the job.”

  
“What does that mean?” John questions some more.

  
“It means whenever the police are out of their depth—which is always—they consult me.” John scoffs and looks out the window. When he looks back he realizes that Sherlock is looking at him confused.

  
“The police don’t consult amateurs.” John says with a bit of a laugh. Sherlock looks back at him with amusement and then gives him a sly smile.

  
“When I met you for the first time yesterday, I said “Afghanistan or Iraq?” You looked surprised.”

  
“Yes. How _did_ you know?”

  
“I didn’t know, I _saw_. Your haircut, the way you hold yourself, says military. But your conversation as you entered the room said trained at Bart’s, so Army doctor. Alpha scent, obvious. Your face is tanned, but no tan above the wrists: you’ve been abroad but not sunbathing. The limp’s really bad when you walk, but you don’t ask for a chair when you stand, like you’ve forgotten about it, so it’s at least partly psychosomatic. That says the original circumstances of the injury were probably traumatic: wounded in action, then. Wounded in action, suntan: Afghanistan or Iraq.” Sherlock finishes, turning his head away to face the window. John looks forward pursing his lips before debating his next question.

  
“You said I had a therapist.” He says it almost like a question.

  
“You’ve got a psychosomatic limp. Of course you’ve got a therapist.” Sherlock says matter of fact. “Then there’s your brother. Your phone—it’s expensive, email enabled, MP3 player. But you’re looking for a flat-share, you wouldn’t waste money on this. It’s a gift, then.” He flips the phone around in his hand a bit. “Scratches—not one, many over time. It’s been in the same pocket as keys and coins. The man sitting next to me wouldn’t treat his one luxury item like this, so it’s had a previous owner. The next bit’s easy, you know it already.” He turns the phone over and shows the back to John.

[the back of the phone has been engraved “Harry Watson — from Clara xxx”]

“The engraving?” He questions.

  
“Harry Watson, clearly a family member who’s given you his old phone. Not your father, this is a young man’s gadget. _Could_ be a cousin, but you’re a war hero who can’t find a place to live. Unlikely you’ve got an extended family, certainly not one you’re close to, so brother it is. Now, Clara. _Who’s_ Clara?” He over exaggerates her name in a silky tone. “Three kisses says a romantic attachment. Expensive phone says bonded, not girlfriend. Must’ve given it to him recently; this model’s only six months old. Bonding in trouble, then—six months on, and already he’s giving it away?” Sherlock waves the phone from side to side as he speaks now. “If she’d left him, he would’ve kept it. People do, sentiment. But nooooo, he wanted rid of it—he left her. He gave the phone to you, that says he wants you to stay in touch.” The cab takes a bit of a sharp turn and they both look forward for a moment.

  
“You’re looking for cheap accommodation and you’re not going to your brother for help?” He points the phone at John. “That says _you’ve_ got problems with him. Maybe you liked his Omega, maybe you _don’t_ like his drinking.”

  
“_How_ can you possibly know about the drinking?” He looks over and Sherlock is all sly smiles.

  
“Shot in the dark. Good one, though.” He turns the phone to the side. “Power connection: tiny little scuff marks around the edge. Every night he goes to plug it in and charge but his hands are shaky.” He demonstrates by shaking the phone.

“You never see those marks on a sober man’s phone, never see a drunk’s without them. There you go, you see? You were right.” He slaps the phone into John's hand matter of fact.

  
John stays silent for a bit, thinking to himself before saying “I was right? Right about what?”

  
“The police don’t consult amateurs.” Sherlock looks back out the window.

  
John fiddles with the phone in his hands. “That...was...amazing.” Sherlock slowly turns toward him. He opens his mouth, but shuts it, then tries again.

  
“You think so?” He asks the question genuinely which confuses John a bit.

  
“Of course it was. It was extraordinary. It was quite... extraordinary.” He grins over at the Omega who has gone a soft in the face.

  
“That’s not what people normally say.”

  
“What do people normally say?”

  
“Piss off!”

  
John laughs as he looks out into the night. They stay silent the rest of the way.

  
\-----

  
Several minutes later when they exit the cab John can see an area that has been sectioned off by police tape a block away. He and Sherlock begin walking toward it when Sherlock says “Did I get anything wrong?”

  
“Harry and me don’t get on. Never have. Clara and Harry split up, um, three months ago, they’re dissolving their bond.” He hesitates for a moment, the pain in his leg saying hi for a moment. “Harry _is_ a drinker.”

  
“Spot on then, I didn’t expect to be right about everything.”

  
“Harry is short for Harriet.” John continues walking but notices that Sherlock has stopped dead in his tracks. He turns around to look at the Omega who has a stunned look on his face.

  
“Harry’s your sister.” Sherlock says completely monotone.

  
“What exactly am I supposed to be doing here?” John looks at the police tape in front of him, which flash blue and red from the police lights.

  
“ALPHA SISTER!” Sherlock hisses as he himself walks up to the police tape.

  
“Alpha sister, rare right. But no seriously, what am _I_ doing here?” He turns to Sherlock but turns back when a lady police officer walks over to them. She stops looking John up and down with an unattractive sneer on her face. She lacks much scent, so Beta John determines.

  
“What are _you_ doing here, _freak_?” She emphasizes the last word and John looks at her a bit funny as he realizes she is calling Sherlock that name.

  
“I was invited.”

  
“Sure you were.” She says. “And who are you?” She looks back over to John, sneer still in place.

  
“I’m nobody.” She goes to say something in response but she is interrupted by a shout.

  
“DONOVAN!” John looks over and sees the same grey haired Alpha that came into the flat earlier. He waves his hand signaling to let them in. To which the beta officer rolls her eyes and lifts the tape up.

  
As they walk over to the front steps John can hear “Donovan” saying that the _freak_ is coming into the building into her radio. John scowls a bit but hides it as another Beta, this time male, walks up to Sherlock.

  
“This is my crime scene and I don’t want you contaminating it!” He’s right in Sherlock's face but the Omega doesn’t back off for a second. Keeping his cool exterior he calmly replies.

  
“Good to see you too Anderson. Is your wife away for long?” The Beta looks over confused.

  
“Oh, don’t pretend someone didn’t tell you that.”

  
“No, your deodorant told me that.”

  
“My _what_?” His face scrunches up annoyed.

  
“_It’s_ for men.” Sherlock does a wibble wobble motion with his head and John almost snorts at how silly he looks.

  
“Well of course it’s for men. _I’m_ wearing it.” He puffs his chest out defensively.

  
“So is Donovan.” John looks over to the female Beta and she has gone a bit wide in the eyes.

  
“Now, I don’t know what you’re imply – “ He gets interrupted by Sherlock.

  
“Oh, I’m not implying anything. I’m sure Sally came around for a nice chat and a cuppa. Looks like she scrubbed your floors going by the state of her knees.” Sherlock turns toward the building and briskly walks inside leaving John to watch an extremely embarrassed Donovan and Anderson slink off in different directions. He follows after Anderson who goes into the building but spots Sherlock’s coat and breaks off after him, encountering his arch nemesis again. Stairs.

  
At the top he is stopped by the same Alpha when he steps up to Sherlock. “Who is this?” He doesn’t even look at John when he says it, instead electing to ask Sherlock. To this John gives a slight growl, drawing the man’s attention as he answers with his own low growl. The two Alphas stare each other down, John feel’s short next to the silver haired leather scented Alpha but can tell he could have easily taken the other in a fight, that is before he got shot.

  
“He’s with me. Now where is the body?” The Alpha points to a room and John walks toward it, not breaking eye contact until the last moment.

  
Before he even enters the room is can smell something off. He sniffs around and the other Alpha nods his head at him when he sees him do it, confirming that he can smell it too. There was more than one person in this room, the lady who lies dead on the floor is one of the scents, but the second is definitely male. But the difference is in the second gender, they were using some sort of scent blockers, which would throw off any Alphas or Omegas who would normally be able to distinguish the gender. In essence, the person knew what they were doing.

  
While this small exchange happened Sherlock stepped over to the body and began examining it. Silver hair speaks while he does so.

  
“Couple of kids found her here. There’s no signs of any struggle on the body, nor any signs of someone dragging her. Getting her up those stairs would have been difficult.” As he says this Sherlock motions for John to come down and examine the body. John does so, getting down on his knees best he can, laying his cane down on the floor.

  
“What am I doing here?”

  
“Examining the body. Tell me what you can.”

  
John gives a heavy sigh but with a look from the Omega he picks up her hand and begins examining it. He gives it a pinch and sees that the blood pools back slowly. He then lifts up her hair, examines the face and sniffs for alcohol.  
“Asphyxiation. Chocked on her own vomit. Doesn’t smell of alcohol...drugs maybe.” John grabs his cane and does his best to get up.

  
“We're checking where she came from – “

  
“Cardiff.” Sherlock is staring at his phone when he says it and looks up to several confused faces. “She’s from Cardiff.” He looks at them like his answer makes perfect sense but they just stare back at him blankly. “Her coat. It’s damp but the umbrella in her pocket is dry, she’s been in heavy rain, heavy wind too, otherwise she would have used the umbrella. But it’s dry here in London, haven’t seen rain all day. She has a train pass, which means she was traveling, but she only has a small night bag, so she wasn’t traveling very far, likely just one night. Her coat is still wet now which means she hasn’t been here long. So, where has there been heavy rain, less than a few hours ago that would be just a bit too far for a singles day travel. Cardiff.” Sherlock takes a bit of a breathe and goes blank in the face.

  
“Brilliant.” John says. Sherlock looks at him a little funny but goes on.

  
“Where is her bag?” The detective looks around the room.

  
“She didn’t have a bag.” The Alpha says.

  
“What do you mean, yes she did. You can tell by the splash back on her stockings, she was pulling it behind her and the wheels flicked dirt up onto the calf of the right leg.” He gestures to the body but the Alpha just shrugs.

  
“Sherlock, she didn’t have a bag.” The Alpha crosses his arms and looks at the body. John looks at her again, but she hasn’t changed. As his thoughts begin to drift off he hears a shout and looks up to see Sherlock running out of the door.

  
“Sherlock, where are you going?” The Alpha yells.

  
“Her bag, the killer must have it! He made a mistake! Find the bag!” And with that Sherlock takes off down the stairs leaving the two Alphas to stare after him. After a moment John realizes that he should probably be following but he is stopped as the taller Alpha moves in his way.

  
“Lestrade, Detective Inspector Lestrade.” He holds out his hand to John, who after a moment shakes it, hard.

  
“Dr. John Watson.” The inspector gives him a small nod and then calls out to all his people to get back in the room. John takes this as his hint to leave, he slowly takes the stairs back down and realize when he walks out to the street that Sherlock is nowhere to be seen.

  
“He's gone. He does that.” John looks over and it’s Donovan. “So, who are you?” She comes closer to him and he stands his ground, not intimated by her in the slightest.

  
“I’m...I’m no one.” He looks around trying to figure out how to get back to the flat.

  
“Well, he’s not your friend. He doesn’t have friends and don’t even think about being his Alpha. He doesn’t do _that_ either.” She smiles like she knows something funny. “You know, he doesn’t get paid for this, he’s not a _real_ detective. He just gets off on it, the death, he gets bored and this is what he does to fill the boredom. But you know what I think. I think he’s going to get bored with that too and one day we are going to be standing around a body, and Sherlock will be the one who put it there.” She looks at him, maybe thinking he would agree with her, but he just shifts on his bad leg.

  
“Do you know where I could get a cab?” He looks down at his leg. “It’s just my leg...”

  
Donovan looks a bit taken aback, like she didn’t expect to be shot down. But she sighs and looks around before lifting up the police tape. “Try the main road.”

  
John ducks under the tape and begins limping away, but turns around when he hears her speak again.

  
“You should stay away from Sherlock Holmes.” She gives him a look and then walks away toward the crime scene.

  
John leaves, doing his best to find a cab home.

  
\-----

  
The next scenes of John being abducted by Mycroft (Beta), are exactly the same except he probably said something about John being an Alpha moving in with two Omegas and how scandalous that would be. (Note: In my world even with Alphas being rare most people have not yet become completely comfortable with Alphas taking multiple Omegas. Though it is legal because the government thought it would make it easier to get Alphas repopulated. Though China has done worse to get alphas back with little more success.

  
\-----

  
John tries to talk to “Anthea”, she smells nice, her natural Omega scent filling the car. But she shuts him down pretty quickly, so he gets out of the unmarked black car and heads up to Baker Street. He knocks on the door and Mrs. Hudson answers. She smiles a bright full face smile and lets him in.

  
“Dr. Watson, you’re back.” He smiles back at her but doesn’t really say anything as he comes in. “I didn’t really get to talk to you earlier, Sherlock just got me all in a tizzy.” She makes a funny movement with her hands waving in the air. “You know I had a few ideas for what we could do with the extra room upstairs. I think Iris should have his own room and with you moving into Sherlock’s room you _really_ should move him out. He's too old to still be sleeping in the nest. We can...” John interrupts quickly shaking his head.

  
“No...no, I’m not... Sherlock and I are not...not a couple.” He stammers over his words but when he finally gets to the end Mrs. Hudson's face loses a bit of the previous smile.

  
“Oh, silly me, you two just met! You should really wait, it’s good to see more old fashioned courtings.” She smiles again and nods her head thoughtfully. John just sort of stands there flabbergasted but turns to face the stairs.  
“Well, I still haven’t decided if I’m going to move in so we can talk about it later.” He nods to her and she just turns to her own flat and goes through the door with a little wave.

  
John takes a breathe and he’s almost right back to where he was a few hours ago. But this time, he knows what’s up in that flat. He knows that there is an over powering smell of delicious Omega attached to a tall weird man, who everyone is telling him to stay away from. He knows that in the past few hours he has seen a dead women, been left behind in a strange part of town _and_ been carted off to a random warehouse, where he was sort of threatened... and it was the most wonderful excitement he has had in months.

  
He gives the stairs a smile as he thinks about what his life would end up like if he decides to stay here. Would he continue helping Sherlock solve crimes? What would life be like if he came to live here? Would the detective eventually get bored of him like Donovan had predicted of the crimes? Then again he would have to be interested in him in order to get bored with him...was he interested in him? I mean he took one look and knew everything about his life so wouldn’t that automatically mean he knew everything and there was nothing more to learn? John’s thoughts die out as the smell of the flat hits his nose, it’s like the smell is made just for him and the next thing he knows he is inside taking a deep calming breath.

  
“Ah, John, there you are. I need to borrow your phone.” Sherlock is laying on the brown couch, his fingers steepled under his chin. He’s changed out of the suit he was wearing, well really just removed the tailored jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his ridiculously tight white shirt. Now that he notices...

  
“Do you have _three_ nicotine patches on your arm? You know that is way above health recommendations.” He walks over to the couch intent on ripping off the patches.

  
“It’s a three patch problem, be glad I’m not actually smoking. I would have inhaled more than five patches worth by now.” He holds out his hand palm up. “Phone.”

  
John looks at the open palm and is a bit irritated but he pulls his phone out and sets it into the outstretched palm. Sherlock simply tucks it under his chin and doesn’t move. Not knowing what to do from there, John goes over to the window and looks out, only just remembering the Beta man with the umbrella. He draws back the curtain and looks into the street, expecting perhaps to see a black car watching over the flat. But as far as he can tell, there is no one observing them.

  
“What are you doing?” Sherlock must have noticed him acting odd.

  
“Just looking for a friend of yours I met today.” He checks down the street a bit but still no sign of anything suspicious.

  
“A _friend_? “ Sherlock voice goes a bit funny when he says friend and his body lifts up a bit from the couch.

  
“An enemy.”

  
“Oh, which one?” He asks this so nonchalantly that John has to look at him all back to being comfy to realize he is being serious.

  
“Well your arch enemy of course.” He says it almost as a joke because the very notion of an arch enemy in real life is absurd.

  
“Did he offer you money?” Sherlock looks over.

  
He considers lying to him, but Sherlock has seen through everything so far. “Yes.”

  
“Did you take it?” He questions.

  
“No.” He looks back out the window.

  
“Pity. We could have split the money, think it through next time.” Sherlock fiddles with the phone.

  
“Where’s Iris?” John looks around the room.

  
“Night classes at his University.” Sherlock holds out the phone. “I need to you text something for me to the number I just entered.

  
John crosses the room muttering under his breathe about how Iris is 16 at the max, how is he in Uni already?

  
“It’s his third year, he would have graduated earlier but I held him back until he was a teen.” John takes his phone from the out stretched hand. “Enter exactly what I say.”

  
John follows Sherlock's words to A T, typing them into the phone and sending it. The message seems oddly cryptic but that seems right in line with what he knows about the detective on the couch.

  
“Who did I send that too?” Sherlock ignores the question, choosing instead to violently remove himself from the couch and rush through the kitchen. John sits in the chair and fiddles with the pillow from earlier. He quiet likes the little pillow and the chair, its oddly comforting. Probably because his apartment didn’t have anything like it, it reminds him of home. Sherlock rushes back into the room in a flurry of motion, slamming something onto the table and then going quiet. It’s a bright pink travel case.

  
“Is that?”

  
They argue back and forth about the implications of having the case, how Sherlock could be seen as the murderer if someone discovers they have it. He’s rebuked by a slew of deductions from the man that make his head hurt and next thing he knows he’s being whisked off to eat at some little Italian place.

  
‘It’s nice here, even if the owner Angelo seems to mistake the dinner as a date.’ John tries to explain but the man doesn’t listen and why should he. You see an Alpha and Omega out to eat, it’s only right to assume it's a romantic occasion. They stay quiet for a while as Sherlock stares out the window and John orders some food.

  
“People don’t have arch-enemies.” John says before taking the first bite.

  
Sherlock takes a moment but finally looks around. “I’m sorry?”

  
“In real life. People don’t have arch-enemies. Doesn’t happen.” He waves his fork around a bit.

  
“Don’t they? Sounds a bit dull.” That smooth voice hovers on the L and John wonders why the sound of Sherlock's voice appeals so much to him. It’s much too deep for an Omega, but maybe that’s what makes it so captivating.

  
“So, who was that man?” He takes another bite of his food, only now realizing how hungry he was.

  
“What do real people have, then, in their ‘real lives’? Sherlock questions to the window.

  
“ Friends; people they know; people they like; people they don’t like ... girlfriends…” He hesitates looking at Sherlock's face. “boyfriends …” He licks his lips.

  
“Yes, well as I was saying – dull.”

  
“So, you don’t have a girlfriend.” He knows this statements seems illogical seeing that Sherlock obviously gave birth to Iris and he clearly needed a male donor since male Omegas and female Alphas can’t impregnate anyone.

  
“Girlfriend?” He sneers a bit at the word. “No, no really my area.”

  
John takes another bite of his food and then realizes that Sherlock sounds like he’s implying he is more traditional and his inner Alpha growls with the implication but at the same time he realizes that just because Sherlock is unbonded doesn’t mean Iris’s Alpha is out of the picture. “Oh, right. Do you have a boyfriend?” He tries to come off as casual but the sharp eyes that pin him down say he missed the mark completely. “Which would make more sense...”

  
“I know it would.”

  
“So, you’ve got a boyfriend then?”

  
“No.” He says sharply.

  
John just tries to smile politely, he wasn’t trying to pry, the Alpha in the back of his mind is happy to know Sherlock is single, but he shoves it down, realizing his Alpha _really_ needs to calm down. “Right. Okay. You’re unattached. Like me.” He takes another bite of food and tries to ignore the fact that Sherlock is staring at him. Eventually, the mad man turns his attention back out the window. But not for long.

  
“John, I think you should know that I consider myself married to my work and the parenting of Iris. They are my life, so while I’m flattered by your interest, I’m really not looking for a mate –“

  
Looking up from his plate John sputters out a reply. “No.” Chokes a bit. “No, that’s not… I’m not asking. No.” He locks eyes onto Sherlock and speaks with sincerity. “I’m just saying, it’s all fine.”

  
Sherlock eyes him wearily. “Good. Thank you.”

  
“I was just wondering if you still saw Iris’s father, I didn’t want to make him worry that his unbonded Omega son was around an unbonded Alpha.” John says it quietly, but Sherlock can hear the genuine tone in his voice. His face softens as he realizes that John is concerned about Iris, even though he only met his pup a few hours ago. John seems to be unlike most people Sherlock has come across in his life.

  
“Iris’s Alpha is no longer in the picture. I was - .” Sherlock isn’t sure how to explain it but John cuts in raising his hand to stop him.

  
“You don’t have to tell me, Sherlock. It’s not my place to know how Iris was conceived, for all I know you had him because of the mandate and there was no one in your life. It’s really common for unbonded Omega’s to be single parents since the mandate, but it’s hard and I admire you for being so strong.” John can’t really look at Sherlock while he says it all, so he talks to his plate of food. “It’s all fine, I just don’t want to make anything harder for you.” John gets the courage to look at him and smiles.

  
“Thank you, John.” Sherlock's small smile is honest and John’s heart skips a beat with how young and beautiful he looks.

  
John looks away, embarrassed by how much that smile affects him. He doesn’t have long to analyze it because the next moment Sherlock is speaking quickly and rushing out the door. He gets up, running after the crazy Omega.

  
\-----

  
John and Sherlock return to the flat, leaning against the hallway they breathe heavily trying to catch their breath.

  
“That...was...ridiculous.” John says, panting and clutching his knees. He’s trying to hide the slight erection he’s got going on, due to the adrenaline and the thrill of chasing a beautiful unbonded Omega across the city. It’s made him giddy with pleasure. “That was the most ridiculous thing…huff….huff… I’ve ever done.”

  
“And you invaded Afghanistan.” Sherlock looks over and then begins laughing, making John snicker with delight at the sound.

  
“That wasn’t just me.” Sherlock chuckles low and it’s that sweet dark chocolate voice that has John going harder inside his jeans.

  
“Yoo hoo.” Mrs. Hudson peaks out of her door, looking over the pair as they finish their laughing.

  
“Mrs. Hudson, Dr. Watson will take the room upstairs.” She looks delighted for a moment.

  
“Says who?” John questions.

  
“Says the man at the door.” Sherlock nods his head toward the door, just as three short knocks can be heard. Sherlock smiles and John walks over to answer it, hiding himself as discretely as possible. He’s surprised when he sees Angelo smiling at the door. He holds up John’s cane and hands it over politely.

  
“You forgot this.” He turns around and heads off down the street.

  
“Oh.” John stares at the cane, turning around to face the others. He had forgotten about the limp, hadn’t felt any pain the whole time he ran after Sherlock. He was so focused on following the coat tails and delicious smell,chasing a criminal down, his instincts alive. It had seemed so natural, almost like a mating run. He spins the cane around in his hands and sets it down by the door. He looks to Mrs. Hudson, about to let her know he _will_ be staying. But her face has fallen and she’s speaking quickly to Sherlock, who dashes off up the stairs. John follows quickly, entering into the open flat door without stopping this time.

  
The Alpha from before, Lestrade is sitting in Sherlock's chair and it takes all John’s willpower not to throw him out of it. The smell of his Alpha pheromones tainting Sherlock's territory has him lowly growling, a faint rumble in the base of his chest.

  
“What are your men _doing_?” Sherlock's voice is angry and his posture says he’s ready to fight. A strange gesture for an Omega not defending offspring.

  
“Well, I knew you’d find the case. I’m not _stupid_.” He says it a bit flatly like he doesn’t completely believe the second part.

  
“You can’t just break into my flat.”

  
“You can’t withhold evidence. And I didn’t break into your flat.” Lestrade raises his voice but Sherlock doesn’t back down in the slightest. If anything the omega stands taller, posturing at the Alpha.

  
“What do you call this, then?” He gestures to all the police rummaging through the flat.

  
“A drugs bust.” He says it almost cheerily, like he was being smart.

  
John bursts out a short barking laugh. “Drugs bust. This guy, a junkie. Seriously!? Have you met him?” He almost starts to laugh again but Lestrade looks away and Sherlock has crowded into his space. His Omega scent is different, subdued and as John looks at his face his own drops the smile. The man is serious, his face stern and John can’t believe this beautiful minded man would ever want to dull himself with drugs. It makes John want to take Sherlock into his arms and tell him how incredible he is, tell him how he should never try to cloud his brilliant mind again.

  
“You?” He says it quietly. But Sherlock just stares at him for a moment, then turns back to the Inspector.

  
“I’m not your sniffer dog, Lestrade.” He says angrily.

  
“Oh, no. Anderson’s my sniffer dog.” He nods toward the kitchen.

  
Sherlock locks eyes on the greasy head of the Beta from the crime scene. “Anderson!” This is one of the last things John hears before he starts to see red. He hadn’t noticed before but there are several more officers in the kitchen and all of the different scents are starting to mingle in the flat. He chest rumbles as he gets angry over this intrusion into Sherlock's territory and his future territory. He hadn’t officially claimed it yet but he was going to live here and he hated all the useless Betas knocking about, getting their stinking scents mixed in with Sherlock and Iris’s beautiful meadow grass.

  
“JOHN!” He snaps back to reality at the sound of Sherlock calling his name. He looks up from where he was staring at the floor. His hands unclench and he looks around. All of the Betas have either kneeled or shrunk back bowing their heads in submission. Sherlock's pupils are blown wide and Lestrade is looking ill, but not backing down. It takes a moment for John to realize that he can smell aggression pheromones all around him, his own in fact, the heavy pine forest scent trying to cover every surface. Everyone responded to the scent of the strong Alpha, instinct telling them to stop and submit, or face a fight.

  
“Sorry.” He licks his lips. “ Can you please tell them to be more gentle with everything they are moving. Yeah?” Lestrade nods, then signals for everyone to be a bit quieter. After a minute John has calmed down but Sherlock has started to become a bit more chaotic.

  
He’s yelling at Anderson about not being a psychopath and the only point in the yelling that he looks sorry is when he asks John about dying. This all continues on and on until Sherlock is telling John to track GPS on the computer and he’s doing his best to keep up. The next moment when he looks up, Sherlock is suddenly gone.

  
John doesn’t hesitate when he puts a bullet into the man with the pill. He’s gone before Sherlock can see him, wonders around the streets a bit, knowing Sherlock is safe. He arrives back after a bit to stand as part of the crowd. He smells the detective long before he sees him, but once he spots him he tries to act nonchalant even though he internally wants to laugh at how silly Sherlock looks wrapped in a blanket. It conjures up thoughts of him wrapped up in John’s bed on a Saturday morning. But he quickly removes the thoughts from his head. But not before Sherlock gives him a funny look and then walks over to him, flinging the blanket aside and looking posh again in that stupidly sexy coat of his.

  
“Sergeant Donovan’s just been explaining everything, the two pills. Been a dreadful business, hasn’t it? Dreadful.” He turns and they begin walking away from the crime scene.

  
“Good shot.” Sherlock say quietly.

  
“Yes. Yes, must have been, through that window.” John says it while looking as innocent as possible.

  
“Well, you’d know. Now wouldn’t you?” He gives John a look that tells him the detective knows. “Need to get the powder burns out of your fingers. I don’t suppose you’d serve time for this, but let’s avoid the court case.”

  
John tries to maintain his calm demeanor by clearing his throat, but he looks around a little nervous.

  
“Are you all right?” Sherlock asks and seems genuinely concerned.

  
“Yes. Yes of course I’m alright.” John smiles but Sherlock gets closer to him and gives him a little sniff. The Alpha smells normal, no panicked aroma detected and John rolls his eyes a bit when he realizes what Sherlock just did.

  
They head off to eat and end up meeting Mycroft along the way, who introduces himself as Sherlock’s brother. John can’t help but gape at the two, startled by how different they are to each other.

  
\-----

  
After some great Chinese food, which Sherlock woofed down like a starving man, they return to the flat, high off their first solved case together, John with stars in his eyes for Sherlock and the detective oddly warm from John’s gaze.

They walk into the sitting room to find that that Iris is scrubbing vigorously at everything trying to rid the place of the multitude of conflicting scents. He looks a little panicked as he rubs his half naked body against various objects scenting them anew. Sherlock runs over to the younger Omega, clearly this behavior is strange as he wraps his arms around his son, stopping him from continuing. The kid whines high in his throat and the sound has John stepping forward before he can even think, wanting to comfort the young Omega. He’s half across the room before he stops himself, watching as Sherlock begins to nuzzling his neck into Iris’s, rubbing their scent glands together. Iris reciprocates with vigor, clasping his hands into his father’s shirt and pulling him forward, thrusting his nose right into his neck.

  
John is stunned by the erotic scene playing out in front of him, scenting was something reserved for lovers, and seeing two Omegas scenting is guaranteed to drive any Alpha crazy with unbridled want. If John were any normal Alpha he’d be pinning the two of them down without thinking. Lucky for the pair, he stays stuck to the spot, watching as Iris calms himself, slowing down the scenting until his head’s laying gently on his father’s shoulder. Sherlock picks his son up, gently walking him down the hall and into their shared room.

  
It takes a few minutes for John to process what just happened but when he comes to he can smell that Iris wasn’t finished re-scenting the territory. He grabs up some of objects and lightly rubs his hands on them, leaving behind his own faint smell. It calms him, but clearly Iris wasn’t as calmed by it as he was. The kid had gone into over drive, John feels that it’s his fault, having told Iris of his second gender might has made him more aware of his own instincts, like the territory scenting he just displayed.

  
Sherlock returns a while later while John is doing dishes, having finished scenting the rest of the flat, taking special care to rub himself into the chair that Lestrade had sat in. His Alpha hummed in his chest with satisfaction with the mingling of his scent into his new territory and just as he thought, his rich pine mixes wonderfully with the spring meadow grass. John sees the detective enter the kitchen from the corner of his eye, but he doesn’t say anything, not sure exactly what to say.

  
“John.” Sherlock's voice is firm but the simple name says so much. Mix that in with the worried scent that is starting to clog the air and John feels the need to speak overcome him.

  
“It’s an interesting technique you used to calm Iris.” John looks up and locks eyes with Sherlock, searching for confirmation of what he thinks was really happening.

  
“I can explain, it only started a year ago, see we haven’t done much — “ Sherlock eyes are stricken, he’s scared and John gets the confirmation he needs.

  
“I don’t need you to explain, Sherlock. It’s all fine.” He echoes the words from earlier at Angelo’s. Sherlock looks at him strangely, almost confused but John just smiles lightly. “Iris was clearly displaying territorial nesting behavior, he was upset with all the different smells and it drove him into a panic trying to make everything smell _right_ again. He wasn’t in his right mind, though it is interesting behavior from someone who is unpresented, or well stunted really. You gave him the familiar comfort that he needed, worked the stress out of him by giving him a pleasure to focus on, after all the displeasure that he had experienced. Nothing more.” Sherlock is stunned, John clearly saw what happened, something that society would find disgusting and he just explained it away as if the two of them scenting was _normal_.

  
Sherlock clears his throat. “You said he was stunted earlier, is that really something you can smell on him?” He steers the conversation in a slightly different direction, but stays close enough to try for subtle.

  
“I know I don’t need to describe to you that an Alpha’s nose is abnormally sensitive to all scents. Iris's scent is almost identical to your own, which means that he’s never been held by his parental Alpha, only by you which is what made his body choose the same scent. If you had been mated when he was conceived he would be more likely to have his own scent and if he had been touched by the Alpha he would be guaranteed to be different. But by having neither, his scent copied yours, making you less likely to abandon him as a child. It’s a defense mechanism, it’s becoming so common that the studies are starting to be published in official medical books.” Sherlock stares, willing John to go on. So, he does as he continues washing the last couple dishes, trying to be casual.

  
“The stunted scent is harder to describe, it’s unnatural, like false flavoring put in sweets. It’s probably a good thing, another defense mechanism since the virginal smell he would put off by himself drives most Alphas wild. The combination of the two together make him safer, letting potential mates know that even though he’s an Omega and unbonded, that he isn’t fertile and ready to breed yet.” John wipes his hands on a dish towel. Officially finished with the dishes, he isn’t completely sure where to look.

  
“I always thought it was a myth that Alpha’s could smell it, as if something really changed when an Omega mated for the first time.” Sherlock looks away, as if he himself knows barely anything about his own second gender.

  
“It’s a big change, Sherlock. In fact, Iris’s scent will change completely once he presents fully, it’s likely to be similar to your own but it will change and if he ever mates with an Alpha, taking a knot will erase the virginal smell. His body will have been changed from the experience, that’s why Omega’s are taught that a first knot will hurt as it breaks their body.” John looks worriedly at Sherlock, wondering why the Omega seems so clueless when he had seemed so intelligent during their hunt.

  
Sherlock turns fully away from John, his head hung low and his arms wrapped around his shoulders. He’s not sure what he said but Sherlock’s scent is upsetting, sour and unpleasant.

  
“Sherlock. I know all of this can be a big shock, a long time ago when Alpha’s were plentiful this information would have been common knowledge, but it’s all true. And I have one more thing I need you to know, before I officially take the room.” Sherlock turns around, his expression neutral, his scent betraying his worry.

  
“Iris will present officially if I stay here. I don’t know how long it will take, but exposure to my scent will cause him to go into heat. You’ll need to prepare him, we’ll need to have a plan for when it happens, I have good control but I don’t know if I could resist temptation if I was caught unaware. I don’t want to hurt him or do something worse that all of us would regret later.” Sherlock feels his heart clench, John has barely been in their lives a day and he’s already saved him from a murderer, ignored his and Iris’s perverse actions, and is concerned about all their futures together. How he let John in so quickly scares him as he stands in the familiar kitchen, the flat around already mixed with their scents.

  
“We’ll make a plan…” It’s the closest he can come to asking John to stay with them.

  
“Alright.”


	2. Scent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John takes some time to himself in the bathroom and the Omegas have some time with each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, thanks for continuing onto the second chapter. I would like everyone to again take a careful look at the tags, specifically the underage (16) and incest (father/son) tags. If you have anything against either of these tags, it is time to turn back around, I will not be offended in the slightest. My work is completely based on fiction and I do not condone the behavior in it in real life, this is all just fantasy. This story has not been beta read, please feel free to point out inaccuracies and spelling errors. 
> 
> I would like to point out to those who have expressed a dislike for my interpretation of the characters, that Sherlock is an Omega by gender but he is actually a switch in terms of sexual preference. For John, he is an Alpha by gender and dominate by preference, but is conflicted due to Sherlock saying he doesn't want a mate and Iris being young.
> 
> Please enjoy the second chapter.

It’s only been a few weeks but John feels more at home in 221B than he ever did anywhere else. The Holmes are fascinating, intelligent, and at least in Sherlock’s case, absolutely mad. He watches the Omegas have conversations that boggle his mind, watches them perform strange experiments that make no sense, and he loves their creative spirit. Observing them as they observe the world around them is like watching great philosophers and scientists discover the truths of the world for the first time. John itches to write about them, to document their brilliance for the world, as Sherlock tries to do in his own blog.

The whole flat smells of their combined scents now and he’s finally able to breathe it all in without it going to his groin. Now it feels like comfort, covering everything like a warm blanket, perfectly mingled, the shady forest meeting the sun kissed meadow. It’s within this perfect blanket that he sits in his claimed chair, union jack pillow at his lower back and his hands full of overdue bills. He grabs the nearest newspaper, determining it’s new enough that the jobs section would still be someone relevant.

It pains him to look over the various menial jobs, knowing what he really needs is to find a hospital or clinic to work in, something that would use his actual skills. He briefly wonders if Mike would know of any jobs, and just like that he’s calling the Beta, hopeful that he could start somewhere fast enough to get these bills paid.

“Hey John.” He hears from the phone after a few rings, his friend sounds happy to hear from him.

He doesn’t beat around the bush, doesn’t feel like he has time. “Hey Mike. I was just calling you to thank you again for introducing me to Sherlock, the flat is great.” He taps his fingers against the arm of his chair.

“Always happy to help.” Mike sounds like he’s smiling.

“I was hoping you would have some more good fortune for me, I’m looking for a job, know of any.” He tries to come off sounding friendly but even his own ears pick up on the desperation.

“Well, you can’t teach like I can, sorry John.” His voice sounds genuinely apologetic.

“No, no. I’m not really much for teaching, but I was thinking maybe you would know of hospitals or clinics that might need extra help?” He runs his free hand though his lightly greying hair.

“Yeah, sure John, there’s always doctors switching practices and clinics are always understaffed, but the pay isn’t always the best in those.”

“That’s okay, just need something.” He sighs, knowing he might need to get two jobs if the first can’t provide enough.

“You know John, you’re an _Alpha_.” Mike says, sounding like he might be implying something. But John’s not really sure what it could be.

“Yeah, been one since I was thirteen?” He waits for Mike to elaborate.

“Well, you can always go into the breeding clinics, they’re always looking for new Alpha’s for the Mandate. They pay well and quickly, if you need fast money.” Blood rushes to John’s face and he stammers as he tries to reject his friends idea, barely stammering out a no thanks.

“It was just a thought. How about I send you over a list of all the hospitals and clinics, yeah?”

“Uh, yeah. That would be great Mike. Thanks.”

They hang up after a few more minutes of friendly chatting and John is mortified at the thoughts running through his head now that he’s not distracted. Mandate #25 required all Omegas to have a child before they turn 30, as a way to get the population up after the devastating wars. Mostly, it was a hope that by all Omegas being forced to breed, it would result in more Alphas being born, since Omegas were more likely to produce them, even if the other parent was a Beta. The breeding clinics came after the Mandate, as a “safe” way of enacting the Mandate while simultaneously allowing no excuse for an Omega to not breed. Couldn’t find a partner? Just go to the clinic, we’ll pair you up and make sure to document which Alpha or Beta is the father, preventing inbreeding for the future.

The clinics allowed Omegas to register for breeding, then once tested and cleared of STD’s and any other issues, they were scheduled to come in on their next heat, the time when they would be most fertile. At the same time, Alphas were highly encouraged, even if already mated, to also register and get cleared to be breeders. Alphas that registered and successfully breed Omegas would be paid a nice sum for each successful mating, but they would have to give up all parental rights in exchange. They would never see the children or the Omega again, no names exchanged, no chance to see the children until they were older. If the child wanted to see their Alpha or Beta they could request from the clinic the information and if the Alpha or Beta allowed it they could be contacted. It became a popular media topic to have Alphas shown with all of their offspring whom contacted them years later. It made the whole project seem more human, less clinical, less enforced bureaucracy.

Mike’s implication that he could become a breeder has him blushing, realizing that he could get paid to in essence, get laid a bunch. The suggestion has him hot under the collar, making him realize that he hasn’t even touched himself in months, let alone had his knot buried in something sweet. He thinks about going to the clinic, knowing that he would easily be selected, as a new Alpha for their program. They would select Omegas, ones that would smell good to him and they would be in heat. Heat sex was always the best, even with his abnormal amount of control he could sometimes lose himself in it all, the Omegas had always loved it when it happened as he would go absolutely feral on them. His usual calm demeanor replaced with the real Alpha inside him.

The dirty thoughts have John going hard in the sitting room and with that his brain latches onto the Omega scent surrounding him. Realizing he’s not going to be able to calm himself, he dodges into the bathroom, intent on pretending he’s just going to get a morning shower, to start the day. He starts the water and stripes efficiently, mildly annoyed that he couldn’t gather some clothes before he holed up in here, but he_ is_ fortunate enough that Iris had a morning class and he hasn’t seen Sherlock all morning. The first spray of the steamy water feels surprisingly wonderful over his muscles and after a minute he reaches down to gently grab a hold of himself. It’s been so long that just the small bit of pressure feels like bliss, causing him to suck in his lower lip, biting down on it and slowly releasing. He’s not sure Sherlock isn’t around the house, so he needs to be quiet, but as he begins to slowly rub up the shaft he realizes that’s going to be harder than he thought, a low growl just barely slipping out.

He tries to listen to the house, but besides the shower he can’t hear anything else. Attempting another series of strokes to get himself fully hard he begins panting lightly, his head floating in pleasure. It’s been so long and even with the less than optimal conditions of the shower, he can’t help but feel himself release a bunch of arousal scent into the tiny bathroom. By the time he leaves no one would question what he was doing in here, but with the excessive amount of cum he produces he needed an area with an easy clean up.

Bracing himself with his arm on the wall, he hunches over, letting the water splash across his back, shielding his now leaking cock. He slides his thumb through the precum spreading it around his head, a hiss between his teeth escaping. He’s always loved to toy with himself, to drag out the pleasure, not simply wanting to get on to the main event. Life was meant to be enjoyed and as he thumbed over the slit for more to spread he knows this is going to be a moment to remember.

The precum keeps coming as he continues circling the head, teasingly, gathering more and more as he slicks it further down his cock. The base is already slightly engorged, his knot won’t fully form without an Omega to take it, but the scent in the flat drives his body to try anyway. It’s always tempting to touch the knot, he knows it’s sensitive, and if he clamps his hand around it as if it were an Omega’s clenching hole he could get off instantly. But he holds off, doesn’t even slick it, afraid to end it all to soon.

He bites down on his lip again as be begins sliding his fingers down his length, the precum doing a good job of smoothing his way. It’s delicious the way his hand fits perfectly around his shaft, large enough that his hefty Alpha cock doesn’t feel neglected with only a single hand to cover it. It’s appealing just to look at really, watching his cock slip though his hand as he instead of moving his hand, begins to move his hips to push into his grip. The tip leaks more as he thrusts, his arousal heightening with the instinct to shove into something starting to take over. He’s no longer concerned with teasing himself, moving on to the main event as his inner Alpha growls in pleasure, seeking release. His pace quickens, hips moving with determination, shoving his knot against his fingers but not yet letting it through into his fist. Still on edge he pulls his other arm down, knows he’ll leak a bunch right before his knot inflates, perfect to slick his cock through his orgasm as his other holds the knot.

His anticipation drives him to finally let his knot slip half into his tight fist and he can’t help the deep snarl that leaves his mouth, as heat condenses low in his belly and he leaks an obscene amount of precum into his awaiting palm. The clear liquid coats his fingers, dribbles down around the digits, some falling to the floor. He rolls his hips almost violently then, shoving his knot fully into his fist and grinds into it, working his fist around the knot. His vision flickers as he comes aggressively across the bathroom tile, using his other newly slicked hand he pumps his shaft fast and hard, moans dropping from his mouth as his cum keeps flowing. He’s always been good at pumping himself for all he’s worth, loving how much he can produce, knows it can fill up an Omega’s belly, leaving a bump that he can feel through their skin. Just the thought has him tightening his grip on the knot more, watching himself as he continues to work the length. The knot is only about half of what it could be, but he’ll get off at least once more before it will go down.

He waits as his stream of cum tappers off, waiting for the moment when he’ll feel the second orgasm, waiting to do something he hasn’t done in months. The anticipation kills him every time, his cock throbs between his two hands and his mind drifts to a few weeks back, the unbidden image of Sherlock and Iris violently scenting each other playing in perfect clarity.

“Fuck…” He doesn’t mean to groan it out loud but the image is so dirty and yet he loves it. Loves the way Iris took a hold of Sherlock’s shirt, rubbing into him and taking deep breathes from his scent gland, imagines instead what it would look like if Iris licked at it, his tongue smoothing over the pale neck of his own father. John moves his hand slowly across his cock again, not even ashamed as he continues the fantasy, too gone in his own ecstasy to care what society would think of him.

The Sherlock of his fantasy is smoothing his hands over Iris’s back, rushed in his need to feel up the heated skin. The young Omega is clawing at his father’s shirt, ripping the buttons and fabric, whining high in his throat with want. The shirt is quickly shrugged off and as Sherlock’s arms come back around to hold, he lifts the boy up, letting him wrap his legs around his father’s hips, wiggling his ass against a very interested bulge. The smell is overwhelming, the two Omega’s clearly leaking slick as Sherlock grinds his hips against his son. The little Omega is blushing red as his father picks him up, placing him down in front of John’s chair, and turning him around to bend him over, placing his face down into the chairs cushion. Iris moans as his nose is filled with John’s Alpha scent, which has sunk into the fabric.

Sherlock moans lightly at his son does, but concentrates on removing the boy’s clothes, tugging down pants and trousers in one motion. The kid is new to this, a virgin and he tries to cover up, pulling his legs together to shield his cock from view. But hands are on him too fast, Sherlock instead spreading the boys cheeks wide, presenting his dripping hole to his father’s intense gaze. The scent of the room is now almost too much, even the older Omega seems dazed by the sight and smell, but dives in to lick at the slick anyway, overwhelming his senses and moaning at the same time as Iris does, his little pink hole being touched for the first time.

John can see how much Sherlock enjoys it, if the way his throat works to swallow the liquid down is anything to go by. It’s too much for him though, he doesn’t waste time to open his son up with his tongue, his own arousal greater than his need to taste further. He rids himself of his own cloths and drapes himself over the younger Omega, rubbing his hard cock over the hot hole, slicking himself up, getting ready to deflower his own blood.

John’s own breathy moan breaks though as his mind shows him Sherlock, sinking into Iris, his cock fitting snuggly into the young Omega, his fluttering hole swallowing up what it’s given. Greedy to be filled for the first time and even greedier to receive it from his Omega father. A quick pace is set from the onset, their arousal too strong to stop, sinful hisses and moans filling the room as the older Omega takes the younger, slamming into him forcefully, his hands spreading his son as far as he can, letting slick run down his thighs in thick rivets. Iris’s cock bobs below him, leaking precum onto the floor, drops falling obscenely from his untouched length.

The Omega’s don’t need words to know what the other wants, Sherlock can feel Iris as he quickly nears his first real completion, his hole clenching around his father’s cock which rams into him. Sherlock leans over changing the angle, but still not touching where the young Omega would want it, instead he licks over Iris’s scent gland and then latches on and sucks hard. The kid loses it, crying out loudly, as he orgasms on the spot, his dick twitching untouched as it spurts across the floor, clear and hot where it lands. Sherlock works Iris through it, never losing his pace as he grinds into him before finally coming himself, fucking his son the whole way though, letting out growls of pleasure as he shoves himself in one last time, deep as he can go, his cum reaching deep into Iris’s body.

John barely lasts though the last of his brains conjured images before his balls are emptying themselves the rest of the way. While the first orgasm is always more explosive the second is like a steady stream of cum which leaves his aching tip. His one fist continues grinding his knot for all its worth, while he works the other for the last time across his scorching length. He growls and curses through it all, losing himself to his Alpha side. As he feels himself finishing, his cum coming out less he removes his one hand cupping it to catch the last bit of his release. It’s always been his guilty pleasure to finish with a taste of himself. He quickly brings the cum to his lips, shoving it into his mouth with his fingers, fucking his mouth with his own cum, tongue licking between his fingers to get it all. It’s just the right amount of bitter and makes his knot throb once more as the taste envelopes his senses.

He continues holding the knot but doesn’t dare move, imaging it’s Sherlock’s tight slick hole clenched around it instead. Thoughts of how full the brilliant Omega would be with all the cum he just pumped out, his body naturally closing off after the mating, holding onto the release for days allowing John to feel the bump he left, knowing he owned the Omega’s womb, no one else able to claim him while he’s stuffed full of the Alpha’s cum. Sherlock would be guaranteed to be pregnant with John’s pup, and isn’t that a wonderful thought his inner Alpha purrs to him. Images of the beautiful detective in his bed, swollen with his child, mating mark on his beautifully pale neck. It’s so strange to think about but he really likes the Omega, loves his mind and would be lucky to have him as his own. Lucky to have both of them as his own, because next to Sherlock lies Iris and now his mind sees a slightly older Iris wrapped around his knot his silky insides milking John for his seed, the teenager begging him to fill him with a pup like his father, a matching mating mark on the younger. Sherlock’s rubbing Iris’s stomach where a bump of John’s cum can be felt. The Omegas purring together with delight, wrapped up underneath their Alpha, protected in their shared nest.

It’s takes longer than usual but John’s knot finally goes down and he releases it, too overly sensitive from the life altering experience he just had with himself. Thinking about it he feels like he should feel dirty about his fantasies, or upset with how much he wants both Omegas after such little time with them and how they’re both male, territory which he has never in fact gone, even with his Three Continents Watson title. But surprisingly he doesn’t feel any of these things, calm after his orgasm, he actually does manage to shower like the tub is supposed to be used for, trying to get the scent of arousal off himself, even as the bathroom reeks of pine forest.

When he exits the shower, no one seems home and he quickly makes his way to his room, getting dressed and heading out. At first he’s not sure where he’s going, suddenly energized by his over indulgence, he goes walking. When he comes across a breeding clinic in his walking, he only hesitates a moment before walking in, filling out the paperwork and getting an appointment to come back for the blood work, etc. ‘He might as well get registered, even if he never decides to come back, maybe if he does he can get his mind off the twin Omegas.’ He thinks to himself.

\-----

Iris comes home early, his only class for the day ending due to an emergency on the professors part. The man had nearly fainted when the office called down to let him know his wife had gone into labor. He didn’t even bother assigning them anything, so like the rest of the class he filed out, happy to have one less hour of class.

The journey home was nothing new, but as he opens the door to the flat his nose is positively assaulted with John’s fresh pine scent. His head swims as he tries to figure out what’s going on. John’s scent had been strong for the past several weeks, slowing becoming more tolerable. Iris had had to be careful not to shove his nose into John’s claimed chair more than once and he knew the Alpha was affected just as much, if the bulge in his trousers for those weeks was anything to go by. He had been cautious not to get caught staring at the Alpha over the top of his books, where he was always reading on the couch.

It was hard not to observe him, Alphas were so rare, the only one he knew was Lestrade and the man had been around his whole life, he was like an Uncle to Iris. But John, John was something new and interesting, Alpha but not over bearing and brutish like Alphas were always described as. The books he read spoke of aggressive Alphas, willing to take and claim Omegas with little to no consent, always believing themselves to be the better part of the species, even if they had been 10% of the population at most in their peak. Their aggressive natures are what made them perfect for the wars, many people now believed that it was because of Alphas that the wars started and that everyone was better off without them.

Alphas were now like weird celebrities, turning heads as they walked down the street. Many had accepted the strange elevated status, becoming government breeders, paid to live a life of luxury while impregnating as many Omegas as they could. John could have lived that type of life, but he didn’t, he became a doctor and went to war as a healer. Iris had been able to coax John into talking to him about being a doctor, mostly about medical school, he wouldn’t really talk about Afghanistan, but the stories he told conveyed just how intelligent he was in his subject. He wasn’t pompous about his knowledge and while he obviously wasn’t intelligent in the way Iris or his father was John wasn’t an idiot by any means.

The Alpha was warm and inviting, his smile was always relaxed and he watched the Omegas with fascination and wonder where others sneered at them in misunderstanding. Iris spent his whole life watching others mistreat his father, judging him harshly for his strangeness. But not John, the strong pine scented Alpha, so unassuming in his comfy jumpers, drinking tea in his chair, it made Iris want to cuddle into his chest, lay all over him on a lazy warm Sunday. He knew that the Alpha was dangerous, his father had let him know what John had done that first day, defending Sherlock in the most brutal way you could, taking the life of another. It didn’t scare him, only pushed his fascination further, but even his fascination couldn’t compare to that of his father’s.

He’s never seen Sherlock act differently for anyone, even Lestrade could barely contain him to some semblance of normalcy on any given day, and Iris would consider him the closest thing his father has to a real friend. So, to see his dad obviously thrown off by the presence of the blond and deep blue eyed Alpha is a true wonder. The older Omega had become careful about his actions, not willing to walk about in nothing but a sheet, subtly breathing in when John walked by, and most concerning of all, keeping his experiments to an almost acceptable level of weirdness. His father was clearly smitten with the Alpha but unwilling to do anything about it, yet.

Accidentally taking another deep breathe is pure torture as Iris’s senses go into over drive. He slams the door behind him, dropping his bag somewhere in the sitting room and goes in search of the heavenly scent. It doesn’t take long for him to find it coming from the bathroom, the whole place reeking of a musky forest, so potent he drops to his knees, realizing his cock is swelling uncomfortably. From his spot of the floor he can see John’s clothes in a pile on the ground, the Alpha didn’t usually leave them behind, but they had obviously been removed in a hurry and he had forgotten to take them with him when he was done.

He crawls to the pile, grabbing the shirt where John’s scent gland would have rubbed against the collar. The dirty idea to rub himself all over with it is all he can think of and the thrilling spike of arousal that shoots up his spine is like nothing he’s felt before. But he can’t do it here, needs to get to the nest in his shared room. Up on his legs he wobbles to the bedroom finding his father laid out with only a sheet wrapped around him surrounded by the countless blankets and pillows that make up their shared nest. He’s clearly lost in his mind palace, but his body is affected by the scent of the flat all the same, if his hard cock raising the sheet is anything to go by.

Iris snickers to himself, knows his father always acts so unaffected by John’s scent, but he knows the truth, sees details just like the detective does, sees how the older Omega tries to hide his want to submit to the calm and controlled Alpha. John is a good person, has been awed by Sherlock in so many ways, even an idiot could see that the man is special, is different than Alphas are supposed to be, in the best way possible. Iris himself couldn’t have picked a better person to offset his father, to keep him grounded in the way John seems to be slowly doing. But being truthful to himself, as he always tries to be, Iris knows he harbors his own crush on the older Alpha, has been only slightly disappointed that he’s too young and John would be more likely to mate Sherlock instead of himself, if he even got the courage to do that.

Throwing the shirt into the nest, Iris rids himself of his school clothes, tossing them aside without care. He climbs in next to Sherlock and begins rubbing his body all over the shirt, shimmying around to get the scent all over his skin. His quick movements must have alerted his father as he hears his voice.

“Iris?” He questions, eyes blinking open, searching the room. They land on the young Omega just as he takes the shirt from underneath of him and drapes it across his chest, smoothing his hands slowly over the material. “What are you doing, what’s going on?” His questions fall on deft ears as Iris lets out a needy whine, his cock leaking clear precum onto the shirt, the tip an angry red with how aroused he is. The impulse hits him suddenly to scent himself on the fabric, he goes to bring the collar of the shirt to his own scent gland, but he’s stopped with hands on both of his wrists.

“You can’t.” His father’s deep rich voice resonates in his chest. “You can’t do that, if you scent yourself everyone will know, you’ll smell like John for weeks.” 

Iris whines high in his throat. “Dad, he’s practically scented us from just being in the house. We smell like him all the time, I can’t get his scent off my clothes. I keep having people at Uni questioning me, wondering why I smell like an Alpha. Some of them even try to get close to my neck, thinking I’ve presented as an Alpha and that the Omega scent on me is just you.” He wiggles around, trying to get Sherlock to let go of him. The older Omega, let’s go but grabs the shirt, draping it over Iris to cover him up before laying down on him, his solid weight pushing the smaller Omega into their nest.

Iris lets out a small moan as he feels his father’s cock line up with his own, through the thin fabric of John’s shirt. They’ve never been this close before, the two Omegas only crossing so many boundaries before today. It all started less than a year ago, it was a pretty normal day, but Iris had been particularly energetic, he wasn’t sure why but he had somehow gotten into a fun wrestling match with Sherlock. He won, pinning his father to the inside of their shared nest, then bent down to shove his face into the pillow beside him as he tried to catch his breath. However, when he did so, his scent gland had brushed against his father’s skin, sending a shiver down his spine, pleasure spiking though his body.

The next thing he knew he was gripping onto his father’s shoulders and shoving his neck into the other Omegas, searching for another feeling of that sweet friction. Surprisingly, Sherlock let him, didn’t protest the strange cat like nuzzling behavior that had come over him. He would later realize it was because the older Omega was close to his heat and had himself gotten lost in the pleasure of the scenting. He had however come back in time to grab Iris’s hips raising them off him as the kid had begun to lightly grind his hips into his father’s stomach, his cock starting to fill out with arousal.

Iris was mortified when he pulled back up and looked down at Sherlock, his black curly hair disheveled, his eyes blown wide with lust but aware enough to stop his son from continuing. He had tried to quickly apologize, stammering out words, attempting to explain what he was doing, but he had been shushed and told it was okay, his father’s rich voice calm and filled with understanding. Getting up he excused himself to the bathroom, covering his front with his hands, face red with embarrassment. Attempting to calm himself down, he runs a cold shower, standing under the spray willing his shameful boner to wither away. He stood there as the minutes ticked by the cold shower not working, his cock decidedly still interested. Eventually, he had simply turned the water to scalding and jerked himself off while rubbing the heel of his other hand against his scent gland. He rarely indulged in masturbating, the urge rarely cropping up. His brain usually preoccupied with more academic endeavors. His legs gave out half way though, forcing him to his knees, bent over and fisting his cock like his life depended on it, he had whined and moaned on all fours like a bitch in heat as he finally found that sweet release across the bottom of the tub. Looking back, that’s the moment he should have realized he was an Omega.

The next day, he had researched everything he could on scent glands and the pleasure of them, eventually finding out that scenting was supposed to be reserved for those who were dating or mated, something not to be done between family members. His cheeks had gone red in the library realizing that he had essentially begun masturbating using his father, but Sherlock hadn’t stopped him immediately and at one point had even nuzzled back. The thought had Iris blushing further, the pleasure of the encounter still fresh in his memory.

He didn’t enter their nest for a few days, his father going into heat made it so Iris had to make his own temporary nest in the living room. He never minded doing this, he liked making his own nest, it was comforting having a little space to his own for a few days sometimes, let him be with his own thoughts. When it was time to finally see his father a few days later, Sherlock didn’t talk about it, didn’t mention it as he cleared the bed of the slick covered sheets and remade their usual nest. Iris didn’t forget though, so when he went to bed that night he made sure to sleep on the edge, not allowing a single point of contact between him and his father, whereas before he wouldn’t have even thought about it. It was really painful to stay away those first few nights, he had always been a cuddler just like his father would never admit to being as well. He would barely sleep those nights, thinking how this must be the normal progression for most children, to eventually have to leave the nest bed when they became physically uncomfortable with the thought of sleeping next to their parents. The moment they realized they wanted their own space, he was just much later than most.

Being around the flat was even worse, he couldn’t stop watching Sherlock, eyes trained on him whenever he thought the detective wasn’t watching. He knows he’s not as observant as his father, but he tries, tries to figure out how he should be feel about the encounter, how the other Omega feels about the encounter. He feels shame to admit that he liked it, hates that it eats away at his thoughts for so long and that he gets no answer in return.

He didn’t ask for his own nest, so a few weeks later he found himself lazing about in their nest, no classes at Uni that day and it was beautifully warm outside, the spring air coming in through the open windows. He had stripped down to just his pants, intent on doing nothing all day but laying in comfort and thinking of nothing for once. His father walked in at some point but he didn’t really pay attention, far too relaxed to care what the older Omega was up to. It wasn’t until Sherlock climbed into the nest that Iris tensed up, remembering suddenly why he hadn’t been able to relax in so long. He turned his head toward him watching as his father got comfortable, facing toward his son, they made eye contact for just a moment before Iris looks down, cheeks heating up in shame. But he didn’t get much time before a hand was wrapping around his neck, a thumb lightly running over his gland, teasing pleasure.

He hissed in a breathe through his teeth at the first touch his eyes shooting open to look questionably at the older Omega. What he found were eyes that looked exactly like his own, so light blue they could almost be considered gray. But it wasn’t the color that had him rethinking what happened all those weeks ago, no it was the uncertainty that radiated in them the same as his own. Sherlock was unsure of himself, touching in a way he knew was wrong but that he clearly wanted in some strange perverse way. Iris could have pulled back, told his father off for touching him, but he didn’t, he had been craving that feeling but unwilling to ask for something so supposedly disgusting. His father had clearly read him, saw his desires and when he wouldn’t act on them, decided he would step up. Instead of backing off Iris had closed his eyes and tilted his neck up into the pressure before opening his eyes back up to stare straight into his father's with a look he hoped conveyed how much he desired more.

He must have done a good job because Sherlock let out a shaky breathe, moving closer and laying his own neck into Iris’s, just resting the two together, testing the water. They lay there like that, not moving just barely touching, the only contact their necks, slow breathes the only sound. Realizing his father wasn’t going to move he took the initiative and moved first, just lightly undulating back and forth, letting the pressure intensify as he pushed up against his father’s weight. It was intoxicating how much just the small movements sent desire down his spine and into his belly. Sherlock moved with him causing the pleasure to intensify to the point that Iris began panting, his erection had come on fast, straining in his pants. But other than their necks they still weren’t touching and the thought of masturbating in front of his father seemed like a step too far for something this fragile. It wasn’t long after that Sherlock would slow them down getting up without a word and leaving Iris alone, the warm breeze still coming in through the window, life continuing as if nothing happened.

  
As soon as the door clicked shut and footsteps leaving could be heard Iris had his hand wrapped around his cock, gripping tight and flipping onto his stomach to shove his soon to be moaning mouth into his pillow. He barely had any room to move his hand between himself and the mattress but the position just felt right and it wasn’t more than a few dry tugs anyway before he was coming into his pants, his balls tight against his body, hot spurts leaving his tip, and his father’s touch on his mind.

From there their little sessions would happen infrequently, always happening at random times and never progressing much farther than that first time. It would be months later when the pleasure would become too much that Iris finally crossed the next line, reaching into his pants while still scenting. He had intended just to hold himself but had instead begun stroking and moaning, his father taking the hint and doing the same, both still confined in their pants, they came together but cleaned up separately after catching their respective breathes. At no point had they ever spoken about it, both of them able to read each other so well that words would be worthless. After John had witnessed them scenting in the sitting room Iris had wanted to die from embarrassment the next day, unwilling to make eye contact with the Alpha, afraid he was going to reveal their secret and get them in trouble. But his father was always one step ahead, he didn’t let Iris suffer, letting him know that John had said he was okay with it but not to mention it to him.

Now as he lay below his father, cocks almost touching for the first time, he knows he’s ready for the next line to be crossed. He looks up at his father with lust, letting the detective deduce his wants from his hooded eyes. Oh and he wants this just as much as he wants the older Alpha, craves this inappropriate touch, his inner Omega, which he had begun to feel stronger, purrs as Sherlock nods and lowers his neck to begin their scenting. The first touch has both their cocks throbbing together, Iris’s dribbling more precum into the fabric which allows for the head to slide deliciously when he barely thrusts his hips just the slightest bit up against the weight of his father’s lean form.

Sherlock hums low in his throat, the vibrations sending shivers across Iris’s whole body, prompting him to grind up a little harder, finding a rhythm as his father begins to push back against him rolling his hips erotically. Iris is almost stunned when all the sudden the older Omega speaks.

“Such a bad boy, trying to scent an Alpha that’s not yours.” He punctuates his sentence by removing his neck and replacing the pressure on Iris’s gland with his thumb, massaging it harshly. “So dirty, taking his clothes without his permission, rubbing yourself all over them.” Iris moans hard, his eyes rolling back as the filthy words process in his brain, he never thought he would like dirty talking but as his dick throbs he realizes he fucking loves it. They had never spoken during their encounters, always silent except for the light moans. Now it seems the flood gates have opened as Sherlock continues, lowering his head to just barely above his son's, whispering words against his lips with warm breathes.

He takes Iris’s face in his other hand, stroking along his jaw. “How do you think the Alpha would react if he saw us with his shirt, wrapped around our cocks, rutting against each other like a couple of in heat Omegas? Do you think he would he would be bold, run in ready to knot us with how desperate we must seem.” Iris’s feels overwhelmed, doesn’t know what to say, barely stutters out a yes before his father is pulling the fabric out from between their cocks, shoving it back down so that they’re both on the same side, skin touching silky skin for the first time. It’s too much, so raw and Iris feels like he’s going to cum but Sherlock, ever the perceptive one grabs him at the base, holding the boy off and preventing him from releasing too quickly.

The young Omega whines, arching his back trying to find the delicious friction, his orgasm so close just to be ripped away. Sherlock doesn’t make him wait too long, before removing his hand and allowing Iris to rut his cock up against the silky smooth skin of his father’s abdomen.

“Not yet, just a bit longer little Omega, I’m going to make this _so_ good for you. Make your first time the best ever.” Iris opens his eyes at those words, searching his father’s gaze which is intense and focused on his face.

“Please.” He’s not sure what he’s asking for the word tumbling from his mouth, but it just feels right to ask. The word spurs Sherlock on, he reaches back and gathers slick from himself, not realizing how much had been pouring out of him, but glad to have it. He comes back and just barely moves his hips off of Iris’s, taking both their leaking cocks into his hand, spreading the slick over them both. Iris is whining and panting beneath him, never having been touched before by anyone, it’s intense and drives the young Omega wild. His hips trying to trust up, greedily seeking more friction. 

“Look at you, so ready to take whatever I give you, just like a good Omega should. John would be lucky to have such a good boy to _knot_.” He grips harder on the last word, sliding faster along their lengths, his own cock ready to burst, but trying to hold off just a bit longer to enact his plan. “Our skins going to smell like him for days, if he got between your legs he’d be able to smell himself on your cock, it would drive him wild with want for you.” Iris is lost to the pure pleasure, his skin is on fire, unsure of what to even do with himself, his thoughts coming to him slower with each stroke of his father’s hand. He bites at his lips and fists his own hands into the sheets of the nest below them, Sherlock’s dirty words having the desired power over him. “He’d mount you right where you were, take you without hesitation, claim you as his own.” The young Omega practically howls at the thought of being pinned down by the Alpha, submitting body and soul for the Alpha to take as he pleases. Iris’s head whips back and forth, his cock throbbing, words falling from his lips, little breathy yes’s and moans, it’s so perfect.

Sherlock can’t hold himself back any longer, he leans down and locks his lips onto his sons, stealing the boys first kiss. At the same time, he focuses on his own cock, letting Iris’s go as he pulls back orgasming against the young Omega’s cock, coating the shaft in his clear cum. He detaches his lips before Iris can even begin to kiss back, he’s panting and the ecstasy of his orgasm has his head fuzzy, but he forces himself to move, sliding his own cock aside, ready to concentrate on Iris alone.

“It’s your turn baby Omega, you ready for it?” He doesn’t expect an answer and Iris gives him none, only continues to moan and squirm. Sherlock takes the young Omega's cock, now coated in not only his father’s slick but also his cum and viciously fists it. “You’re being so good for me now, I’m going to let you cum all over the Alpha’s shirt. You want to cum my baby, ready to make a mess of your already messy self. All dirty with my cum on your cock.” His voice is so deep and it send shivers down Iris’s spine.

Iris barely nods his head, letting out a whine, his balls tight as his body is played perfectly. Sherlock can tell it will only take another moment but has to get in one more comment. “Come on little Omega, show me how much you love my hand on your pretty little cock, cum for your dad.” He grabs Iris by the hair and yanks his head back exposing his pale neck then latching his lips around the young Omega's gland and he sucks for all he’s worth. Iris blacks out, his eyes rolling back and his cock pulsing out thick ribbons of cum, which Sherlock mixes with his own as he continues to fist the boy's cock. The moans Iris let’s out speak of pure debauchery, he’s lost himself and it’s deliciously sinful how much Sherlock loves it, how much he loves to feel the pulses of his son's cock in his hand and it takes a lot of strength to finally stop touching as Iris whines lightly in over sensitivity.

After what feels like forever Iris’s brain comes back from whatever paradise he had gone to, and back to the reality of Baker street. “Fuck.” It’s the only thing Iris feels like he can say after what just transpired. There’s no denying now what’s happening between them, they’re so far into this sick twisted pleasure that the expletive seems like the only appropriate reaction.

His father hums in his throat before releasing his lips from their hold, giving one last long lick over his throat. Iris’s scent gland will have a deep bruise around it tomorrow, but he doesn’t really care. What he does care about is the shirt still between them, now soaked in their sweat, cum, and Sherlock’s slick. He gently eases off of Iris, getting up onto his knees to look down at the blissed out teenager below him. His black curls are both wild around his head and plastered to his forehead, his eyes are bright and open, drinking in Sherlock's own appearance. The shirt below is drenched and clinging to Iris’s lithe form, laying on top of the fabric is his softened cock, covered in their drying fluids and Sherlock can’t help but want to touch it again.

After all they’ve just been though, he might as well. He moves himself a bit to put his own softened cock next to Iris’s and gently takes them both in his hand, giving them a squeeze and gathering the fluids to rub into Iris’s stomach. Normally an Alpha would do the same thing, rubbing his cum on his mates body, claiming his territory with such a dominate act. It’s a weird sensation to put their most intimate parts together like this when they’re soft but it makes the young Omega giggle and Sherlock can’t help but chuckle in that baritone voice right back.

“We’re going to have to wash this shirt a million times before John won’t pick up on what happened to it. His sense of smell is _way_ too good, I’ll hand wash it now, but we’ll have to dry it in here.” The plan forming in his head now of how he’ll get it past John that he just happened to find the Alpha’s shirt in their laundry.

“Should just throw it away, or maybe we can just keep it for ourselves?” Iris questions, finally releasing his hands from the sheets his runs them up his father’s thighs, feeling the soft hairs on his pale skin. Is tempted to keep going, to take his father in his hands, he was so overwhelmed the whole time he didn’t get to touch back. “Once we wash it of course, I’m sure it will still smell like John even after.” He’s not sure where the boldness comes from but he likes the idea of keeping something of the Alphas.

“We’ll see. Now let’s get up, John could be home at any time and we both wreak of sex. I don’t think John would believe we both got laid on the same day and don’t smell like other people.” Sherlock gets up, his legs a little wobbly as he sets 

them on the floor, he turns around and gathers up the soiled shirt.

“I thought he knew about us…kind of.”

“He does, but we’ve never done what we just did, I’m not trying to advertise it either.” He helps Iris’s up with the hand not holding the shirt and the young Omega stands on two feet shakily. He looks down at the floor but the next words stun Sherlock a bit as he takes in the blushing boy.

“Even so, I really liked it. Would really like it again…” He buries his hot face in his hands and tries not to make eye contact with his father, instead quickly walking past him and into the bathroom to turn on the shower. Unlike their last times together they shower with each other, it seems almost strangely intimate after what they just did, but it’s delightful. Each of them taking turns to wash the other, running soap delicately over sensitive skin removing as best they can the smell of Alpha off each other. It makes Iris a little sad to remove the beautiful scents, he wants to have his whole being smell like them every day. At one point he turns around, a little wearily but gains confidence when he sees his father’s eyes shine and his small smile.

“You kissed me before.” He states it and Sherlock just nods calmly. “Can…can you kiss me again? Please?” Just like before it feels so right to ask, he hadn’t been able to respond to the first and only kiss they shared, so concentrated on the pleasure he had barely felt it, mind going wild as he felt his father come on him.

Sherlock smiles shyly, taking Iris’s face in both hands and giving him a chaste kiss, before licking over his lips, getting them to lightly part before licking again, this time into his son's mouth. Iris breathes heavily in through his nose at the first contact, the new sensation so wonderfully warm. He catalogs the feeling of his father's soft cupid’s bow lips in the back of his mind, sure he could get off on just the feeling of them against his own lips. It takes a moment before Iris moves his tongue for the first time, sticking it out just barely before dragging it against his father's. He’d be getting hard again if he hadn’t just come a few minutes ago, his quick refractory period isn’t quiet that fast. The kiss isn’t the rushed passion of lovers, even if he could now call them just that. It’s slower and makes his heart flutter and his head spin as the kiss continues, their warm tongues dancing together, a delicate push and pull that leaves them both breathless and wanting more. Let’s them know that whatever it is that’s developing between them is desired, that it’s by no means one sided or being forced upon the other. It takes time for Sherlock to finally pull back with a smile, seeing Iris completely wrecked, his eyes hooded with desire. He leans in one last time gently kissing Iris’s soft cupid's bow that matches his own so perfectly.

John returns later looking chipper from his walk around London. Sherlock stares into his microscope and Iris reads a book on the couch as usual. If the Alpha sniffs the air a little too much before settling himself on his chair, the Omegas pretend not to notice. Just a normal day in the flat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please let me know what you think by adding a comment. I hope you enjoyed. I enjoyed writing it. <3


	3. Meeting an Alpha

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sherlock and John have their talk, a murderer is on the lose and John learns more about the clinics...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, thanks for continuing onto the next chapter, I've had to break The Blind Banker into two parts in order to keep the chapters roughly the same length, so this is part 1. As always my work is completely based on fiction and I do not condone the various behaviors portrayed in it in real life, this is all just fantasy. Please feel free to point out inaccuracies and spelling errors and I will change them.
> 
> I would like to thank my lovely new beta, who I have been working with to make this story the best we can make it. Thank you Bubblegum_taffy! <3

The list that Mike sends over is shorter than John had hoped but he diligently begins typing up his first real curriculum vitae ever. It’s not that he hasn’t made a resume in the past, but he was a teenager applying for summer jobs, not a professional doctor with military experience. As he chicken pecks along, writing in each of his specific qualifications Iris comes out of the Omega’s bedroom going into the kitchen to begin making his morning tea. His scent wafts into the sitting room, letting John know like every morning that he’s living with two enticing unbonded Omegas and… is that a hickey!? The Alpha does a double take when Iris turns to the fridge, a large bruise evident on his scent gland, round and clearly made by an eager mouth.

He quickly turns back to the laptop, trying not to smirk at the confirmation of his suspicions from yesterday. When John had come home last night he was annoyed to smell his own arousal still hanging around in the air, embarrassed but willing to ignore it since his two flat mates appeared to be doing the same. As he entered further in the house though, getting close to Iris on the couch, he realized that his arousal wasn’t the only one in the air. The sweet enticing smell of Omega pheromones was evident in the air and with no other scents than two the Omegas in front of him, he knew something had happened.

His Alpha rumbled to him that they liked him, wanted him as their Alpha, got themselves worked up because of _his_ scent. He pushed the Alpha aside telling himself he’s not surprised they got excited, the flat was drenched in his dark earthy arousal, only incompatible Omegas wouldn’t be affected by it. Sherlock and Iris just got caught up in the pheromones, Sherlock was married to his work and Iris... well Iris was too young for him anyway. But something kept nagging at the back of his mind, he’d smelled himself on Iris, their scents mingled more than usual and it was confusing because later when he walks past Sherlock it’s the same exact thing. The strong scent of pine and meadow grass mixed together, intoxicating and fresh, as if _he_ had scented the Omegas. Oh and what strength it take taken him not to run his nose over Sherlock’s slender neck last night. To absolutely bury himself in his lovely smell and actually scent him properly, hold him down by those slender hips.

Soon enough Iris is rummaging around the house, school bag in hand, slinging books and papers in with no sense of order. His outfit is fine except that it doesn’t cover the mark on his neck and with his heavier than usual combined scent, John knows assumptions are going to be made. He can’t let the young Omega go out without covering up, feels a sense of urgency to protect him from questioning. As Iris finishes tying his shoes, John gets up and goes to the coat rack, grabbing Sherlock’s signature blue scarf. He feels the soft fabric knowing it smells like Sherlock, it will hide the mark and smell like Omega enough that maybe John’s scent will fade.

Iris walks toward the door, shoes firmly in place, but John steps in his way, blocking the door. Iris does well to hold his ground, no fear evident even with the Alpha standing in his way. The teen’s eyes narrow suspiciously and turn striking, he’s learned to be more aggressive than most Omegas, his father obviously teaching him that his gender doesn’t define his behavior.

“John?” He quirks an eyebrow, looking questioningly at the rugged face, deducing him just like Sherlock does. The Alpha’s deep blue eyes are pinched together, concerned, at the same time his nostrils are wide taking in extra air, scenting heavily, trying to determine something from the air.

Instead of answering the Alpha brings up the scarf up and wraps it around the teen’s neck, lightly tightening it and running his hand over it, smoothing it down. He leans in, speaking quietly in Iris’s ear. “Best to keep that on, yeah. Don’t want any questions.” Just as quickly he leans back, looking the boy over, the scarf adding to how much he resembles his father from his dark curly hair and pale skin, right down to the high cheek bones and light blue-grey eyes. In the next years he’ll probably grow just a bit taller and lose that last bit of boyhood charm. He’s going to be just as beautiful as Sherlock. Iris looks taken aback, his eyes changing into the softer innocent doe eyes that the teen had been giving him lately, John had noticed them more and more as they got to know each other. The teen is blushing furiously his face pooling hot blood into his cheeks, realizing that he had forgotten about the mark on his neck.

“Ah, thank you, John.” He couldn’t even look up at him, too afraid to accidentally deduce something more from his handsome face. John was observant and protected him, using the scarf was a perfect cover. The Alpha was so clever, it made Iris want to melt.

Stepping aside John wishes Iris a ‘good day’ and gets a small, ‘you too’ in return. The Alpha watches the young Omega descend the stairs, he realizes as he watches the boy walk away that Sherlock and he hadn’t been able to design out their plan for Iris’s first heat. He had been so caught up in the couple cases he had gone on since the first big one, none as exciting but John thought that was probably a good thing, if he had to shoot someone every time he might eventually get caught.

Going back inside, he gets back at his resumes, sending them off one by one, until he hears the telltale sign that Sherlock has gotten up. It’s a flurry of movement as a blue robed streak runs into the sitting room, grabbing up an experiment that John hadn’t even realized was under that stack of books before shoving it under the large microscope. John gets up to make tea, determined to get something into Sherlock for breakfast, the detective is thin. It makes his Alpha instincts to provide felt like it’s constantly on whenever it come to the detective. 

Finishing the tea with a large helping of cream he sets it next to Sherlock who hasn’t moved from his position looking into the microscope the entire time. John thinks the man could live his whole life looking into that thing and never be unhappy. He clears his throat, intent on using the moment to finally bring about some discussion. “Sherlock.” The detective doesn’t notice him, or more likely is ignoring him. “Sherlock!” He demands in a half growl, using just a hint of Alpha authority.

The Omega jumps, then recovers giving John a nasty look, eyes cutting deep as he gets up to his full height, trying to tower of the Alpha. John isn’t impressed, knows Sherlock can get away with the dominant act on all the Betas and Omegas around, but he’s standing up against a real Alpha now and John lets him know, staring right back unwavering.

“You used your Alpha voice.” Sherlock slowly says.

“Yes.” John licks his lips. “Just a little.”

“Why?” The single word cuts like a knife, Sherlock obviously upset that John used his Alpha dominance.

“We need to talk about Iris, before you run off on a new case, or I come home to a flat full of heat pheromones.” John notices that when he says the word home Sherlock’s lips just barely started to curl into a smile but fall back to flat quickly.

“We can just find you a place to stay for a few nights, why not your friend Mike, he’s a Beta. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind you kipping at his place for two days, maybe three if it’s a bad one.” Sherlock knows his own heats tend to be short, he got lucky compared to the Omegas that have four or more days, and if Iris is anything like him then he’ll be done quickly as well.

“That’s not the major issue Sherlock and you know it. I can find a place to stay, I’m worried about after.”

“After? After what, John? He’ll be back to normal and when the next heat comes we can just do the same thing.” Sherlock is mildly confused his eyes betraying it, they’re wide and searching John’s for answers.

John himself just sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, realizing he’s going to have to spell it all out. It’s awkward, especially with Iris being so young he hates that he’s so affected by the scent of the two of them, it makes everything so complicated. “Sherlock, I told you before that I can smell that he’s stunted and a virgin, that the two scents together neutralize my instincts, but once he has that first heat, he won’t be stunted anymore. He’ll just be virginal and even out of heat he will smell…” John’s not sure what he wants to say, tempting comes to mind but he doesn’t want to feel that way about Iris. His fantasies need to stay just that, as fantasies. The kid is less than half his age and has his whole life ahead of him. John would never want to tether the young Omega to himself, just an old Alpha. Well, he shouldn’t put himself down too much, he is still under forty, for two more years and the grey hair was distinguishing. He starts again “he will smell…virginal too all suiters.”

“What would you have me _do_, you don’t exactly find young Alpha’s roaming the streets, invite them in for a cuppa and ask them to screw the virgin scent out of your son!” Sherlock, is visibly annoyed, raising his voice and waving his arms a bit undignified, which is strange for the usually careful Omega.

John growls, anger pheromones pouring off of him as he thinks of a strange Alpha knotting his young Omega. ‘No not his, calm down.’ He blinks at Sherlock’s concerned face, he’s backed down at the outburst, the usual forest pine scent tainted and unpleasant. John takes a deep breath and calmly says “I’m not saying that at all Sherlock.”

“Then what do you _want_? You seem fine when you’re out in public, I’m sure you have virgin Omega’s walk past you every day and you don’t seem to be going crazy Alpha all the time, I don’t know why Iris would need protection from you. You care for him John, I know you do. You have been acting like a second parental figure since you got here. Apologizing for making him uncomfortable the first day, inquiring to where he is to make sure he’s safe, you even make sure to always bring home food for him when we are out.” Sherlock is determined to make John see that he would never hurt or do anything against Iris’s wishes.

“You’re right Sherlock, I care about Iris a lot, just like I care for you.” He gestures toward the tea, sat cool by now next to the microscope. Sherlock’s face does a funny thing when he looks at it, only just realizing it was there. His face softens a bit and he looks back at John with a bit less intensity.

“I care about both of you and I would never want to hurt _either _of you. I have good control of myself, I admit that I learned that through the fights my sister and I got into over the Omegas she would bring home and later in the military when I had to treat unbonded Omegas. But you both don’t smell like those Omegas, yeah they usually smelled nice, but the two of you are different, both almost too much for me. And I don’t go crazy on the street not because I have control, but because virgin Omegas are rare now a days.”

“How would they be rare, John, Omegas are plentiful and there’s not enough Alphas around to be knotting them all.” Sherlock voice is dripping with skepticism but he’s at least somewhat calmer than before.

“Most Omegas in modern times break the scent on their own during the first heat by accident, using inflatable toys.” John decidedly looks away from Sherlock as he says it. Imagining the detective doing exactly that when he was young, but then realizing that Sherlock didn’t seem like the type, always calling his body “transport” and never taking care of himself to the point of starvation.

“What…?” John looks back and watches as his statement seems to break Sherlock’s big brain as he connects some unseen dots.

John starts talking to fill the space. “Again you’re completely right, there aren’t enough Alphas to go around, even if Alphas start taking on multiple Omegas and making packs again it would still be 15 to 1. But an Omega doesn’t need a real knot to break their body and make it think they’ve been…breed.” He says the last bit with a breathier sigh.

Sherlock is silent for a long while, his eyes wide and darting back and forth in concentration. John is almost certain he’s lost the detective to the strange zoning out he does. He waves his hand in front of Sherlock’s face but gets no response. Picking up the tea instead he goes about heating it up, hoping he can make Sherlock drink it when he comes back online.

He can hear Sherlock speaking behind him as the tea finishes, but he doesn’t know what he says. “Come again Sherlock.” He goes over tea in hand and sets it down beside the microscope again.

“I said, if an Omega didn’t break themselves, what would happen to them?” He says it so softly John has to lean in to hear him properly. It’s strange, Sherlock was typically either loud or dead silent, softness didn’t seem natural for him, even if he was an Omega.

John realizes it’s time to be quiet, so he whispers like Sherlock. “In old times virgin Omegas were kept with their families in the home until they could be mated off. They were a risk to transport and couldn’t be allowed alone, especially in the presence of non-related Alphas. Alphas could become completely animalistic if they smelled one, if they’re scents were compatible it could be even worse, stories of Alphas hurting Omegas by accident were common. Alphas weren’t taught control, most don’t learn control even now...”

“They would just take what they wanted, what they thought was theirs.” Sherlock’s face is completely blank as he stares at John’s chest, refusing to look up.

“Yeah. Yeah, they would. Which is why you need to break Iris of his scent, I know there aren’t many Alphas, but I want to keep him safe, I don’t know what I would do with myself if _I_ was the one to hurt him.” His voice wavers, emotion coming through but he holds it back best he can. “God help me if I found out some strange Alpha got a hold of him and I wasn’t there to protect him.” His anger is back, pheromones and all. But to his surprise Sherlock releases his own comforting scent in return, the first time the Omega has been willing to use his second gender on John. He breathes deeply, letting the warm meadow encompass his senses and it’s not like Sherlock’s normal scent, it’s not the one that makes his gut churn with desire, it’s more subtle and soft. It makes him want to cover himself and the Omega in a sheet and sleep wrapped up in each other the rest of the day. Unconsciously he moves closer, feeling so much calmer than before, his anxiety washing away with each breath.

“I understand now. I’ll take care of it.” Sherlock says a little louder, finally breaking the whispering they had been doing. John nods, seeing the recognition in the detective's face and with that he realizes how close the two of them had gotten during the conversation. They’re practically chest to chest, John looks away realizing he would barely have to tip his head up to lay a kiss on Sherlock’s plush lips. He clears his throat and backs off gesturing to the tea without really saying anything. He’s sure now that everything will be fine, he has Sherlock’s support and his full understanding.

\-----

John gets a call later to come into the breeding clinic today to get his blood work done and as he looks at the bills next to his computer verses the pitiful amount of resumes he sent out, he decides it’s a good idea, agreeing to come in for a later appointment. As he hangs up, Sherlock who had long ago locked himself in his room, comes bursting out yelling about going to the bank. He’s already got on his long coat by the time John is trying to slip his shoes on.

“John? Where is my scarf, I always hang my scarf right here.” He gestures to the coat rack and then begins looking around the base, thinking it might have fallen off.

John keeps a straight face, putting on his shoes, lucky this time that Sherlock isn’t just rushing off and leaving him behind in a cloud of meadow scent. He gets up calmly as Sherlock continues to tear apart various piles of stuff on the floor near the coat rack.

“I gave it to Iris.” Sherlock gets up turning around and looking at John in confusion.

“Why would you give him my scarf, he has his own scarves?”

“Yeah.” John heads for the door, but gets close to Sherlock at the last moment. “But he doesn’t have any scarves with enough scent that could wipe the smell of me off his skin and cover _your_ mark, that were also close to the door as he almost left for Uni.” He looks pointedly at Sherlock, trying not to be accusatory but still warning him to be more careful.

“Oh.” Sherlock’s mouth forms the word, his lips forming a small heart due to his cupids bow. It’s a cute look John thinks as he heads down the stairs first, for once.

They pull up to an impressive building and John looks around awestruck as they go through the heavy glass revolving doors. “Yeah, when you said we were going to the bank…” He doesn’t continue as Sherlock is announcing himself to one of the receptionists and they are whisked away up the fancy elevator and into an office that smells heavily of Alpha, specifically like English Walnut trees.

“Sherlock Holmes.” A tall Alpha comes into the office, bringing with him more scent and confirming they’re standing in his office. The man’s presence annoys John as he at first ignores him, going straight to shaking hands with Sherlock, clasping both hands onto the detective's. A strangely claiming gesture and if his nose is right the Alpha is unbonded as well, his own inner Alpha bristles with anger, annoyed that this man is being so friendly with Sherlock.

Sherlock seems calm as he simply states “Sebastian.”

“How’ve you been buddy? What’s it been, eight years since I last clapped eyes on you?” He smiles brightly before turning to John with questioning eyes.

“This is my _friend_, John Watson.” John isn’t really prepared to hear the word friend be used to describe him, we’re they really friends already. It had only been a few weeks and flat mates would probably be the better term. He simply smiles in return while shaking Sebastian’s hand, the two Alpha’s gripping tightly, asserting dominance more than needed. They release at the same time, a gentlemanly thing to do, not backing down but not starting something either. They all sit, Sebastian offering drinks and with no takers they get to it.

“So, you’re doing well. You’ve been abroad a lot.” Sherlock starts off and John instantly knows he’s deducing the man like he does everyone.

“Well, some.” Sebastian says nonchalantly, sitting back in his chair.

“Flying all the way round the world twice in a month?” Sebastian laughs and points his finger at Sherlock but looks at John knowingly.

“Right, you’re doing that thing. See, Sherlock and I were at Uni together, for the whole one semester he survived. He had this trick he used to do.” The Alpha grins a bit.

“It’s not a trick.” Sherlock says defensively.

“He could take one look at you and tell you your whole life story.”

“Yes, I’ve seen him do it.” John confirms, sneaking a peak over in Sherlock’s direction. The detective has gone strangely still.

“Put the wind up everybody. We hated him.” Sherlock looks down and John can see the tension in the Omega’s body but he can’t reach out to comfort like he wants to. Has to keep it professional and Sherlock is back up with a face neutral in a moment anyway.

“I’d come down to breakfast in the Formal Hall and this guy would know how many Omegas I’d been with at the breeding clinic the previous night. Not that I wasn’t there all the time, being the only Alpha at the college.” His smirk beams with amusement and he looks over at John as if the other Alpha would understand, as if being an Alpha automatically made him special. John just stares at him blankly, not willing to play into his second genders stereotypes.

“Oh yes, how are your countless children? Some of them are getting up there in age, how old _are _they?” John turns to Sherlock, mouth almost agape at how unexpected the ‘normal’ question is to be coming out of the detective's mouth. As if Sherlock would ever care to talk about someone else’s offspring like a traditional Omega housewife at a Sunday brunch.

“Oh wonderful, I should say. The oldest is sixteen, almost seventeen, yeah presented as an Alpha a few years ago. So, proud of him, he contacted me…” John misses the last bit of what Sebastian says as his brain latches onto the age. Sixteen. The same age as Iris. And what had Sebastian said earlier, ‘at Uni together for only one semester’. John’s brain works on overdrive then piecing together bits of conversations he’s had with the two Omegas over the past weeks. Iris had told him that he was getting a degree in Engineering, unlike Sherlock, but he didn’t blame his father for never going back to Uni since he was unexpectedly pregnant with Iris, so he had other priorities. But, the young Omega had also mentioned that he didn’t live with Sherlock in the beginning, that his father had been gone the first few years but came back. ‘A drugs bust…this guy doing drugs’ he had laughed but the weird pieces fall into place as John sets a rough timeline in his head.

Sherlock at Uni, gets pregnant with an Alpha’s child, and John knows it’s an Alpha since the Omega had confirmed it at Angelo’s. The now pregnant Sherlock leaves Uni and runs back home to have the child but leaves, doing who knows what in the meantime. But comes back, clean and sober, “married to my work and the parenting of Iris.” Not looking for another Alpha, clearly denied by the one who had gotten him pregnant, one who went to his University and was the _only_ Alpha at the whole campus. John wants to see red, but he can’t confirm truly that Sebastian is Iris’s Alpha, can only speculate with the bits and pieces he’s gathered. He comes back to the conversation just in time.

“I’m sure you waited until the last minute to comply with the mandate. So, what do you have, a five or six year old? Bet those toddler years are mighty fun.” The Alpha scrunches his face up in mild disgust.

Sherlock stays relaxed and simply hums, not really confirming anything about Iris. But the whole thing confuses John because if Sebastian didn’t know about Iris, then he couldn’t have been the one to impregnate Sherlock. A single mating is all it takes and an Alpha can smell the change within a hours’ time. He would have had to have known that Sherlock left Uni because of the pregnancy, unless he didn’t stay and Sherlock left without ever seeing him again.

“Anyway, I’m glad you could make it over. We’ve had a break-in.”

The next hour is a whirlwind as always with Sherlock. John tries to forget the epiphany he may or may not have had and instead goes with the flow, following the Omega around the trading floor as he gathers clues in his big brain. The detective talks him through the various clues and deductions he makes. When John’s handed a cheque by Sebastian with a large amount of money on it he almost wants to say something about back pay on child support, but holds his tongue.

As they walk out together John is silent, he’s bristling with annoyance and he’s not even sure why. So what if Sebastian was Iris’s Alpha, that didn’t mean anything, the man clearly didn’t want actual children that he had to raise, just enjoyed the perks of being an Alpha, wanted by the government to breed Omegas. Sherlock seemingly didn’t notice John’s particular attitude the whole time, even during the ride to this Van Coon’s apartment, the detective was restless with excitement over the case.

Sherlock sweet talks his way into a nice Beta’s apartment and uses her balcony to break into Van Coon’s apartment. John for his part stands outside the apartment and waits for Sherlock. Always either waiting for the detective or getting left behind by him, he rings the buzzer, thinking it’s been enough time that Sherlock should have made it into the apartment.

“Sherlock?” He says through the door. He waits, leaning his ear to the wood and concentrating. He often wishes his hearing was half as strong as his sense of smell is, then again all the gun shots he’s heard would have been deafening. “Sherlock, are you okay?” The apartment is silent and if someone comes by and sees him listening up against the door they might think he’s a weird stalker or something. “Yeah, any time you feel like letting me in.” It’s still a few minutes before Sherlock opens the door, but when he does it’s to let himself out, already on the phone calling Scotland yard. John steps into the apartment and the smell of fresh blood hits his nose. Unlike the smell of death the blood doesn’t smell foul, just metallic, it lets him know that they’re too late for Van Coon.

It takes some time for the police to get there, meanwhile Sherlock is gathering evidence, rooting through the man’s bag and taking a folded piece of paper from his mouth. John forgets for a while all about Sebastian, so focused on the detective in front of him. He’s beautiful and oddly infuriating as they speak back and forth, John answering some of his questions correctly and at other points just being strangely confused by the way Sherlock speaks, asking things John would never think to ask.

Detective Inspector Dimmock, a tall Beta with surprisingly young looks gets his arse handed to him by Sherlock, his suicide theory being shot down with fact after fact laid out by the stern Omega. John's inner Alpha bristles at the way Sherlock strips a person down, aggressive in his own strange way, it makes John want to break that spirit and make it his, lay the detective out on his bed and fuck him into submission.

His thought are interrupted as Sherlock briskly takes off out of the room, leaving John to smile half apologetically toward Dimmock, but he smirks as soon as his back is turned. So proud of the Omega, thrilled at how the case is going, it’s gone from simple threats to actual murder and as much as he feels bad for Van Coon, he loves to see Sherlock like this, in his element, deducing and analyzing, using that impressive mind of his.

They find Sebastian again, having a fancy dinner with some clients or colleagues, ‘who cares’ John thinks. This time he watches even closer how the Alpha reacts to Sherlock, trying to glimpse anything that would tell him how the man really feels about the detective. The whole conversation between the three of them gets John no further in his analysis of Sebastian and Sherlock’s relationship, and it seemingly gets Sherlock no further in his analysis of why Van Coon is dead.

\-----

They go home and John leaves a little while later to make his appointment at the clinic, entering through the front doors to a happy looking Beta who lets him know they’ll be right with him. The clinic looks the same as before, it’s a clean doctor’s office looking place, complete with uncomfortable waiting room chairs and a fake plant in the corner. Everything smells like heavy cleaners and scent neutralizing spray, something that’s seriously required when working with in heat Omegas and aggressive Alphas. Speaking of Alphas, John didn’t see or smell any the last time he was here and this time is no different. There are two older Omegas both sitting quietly, to the side, they keep glancing John’s way, probably wondering if he’ll be the Alpha to mate them, if he goes through with this. Course he is sitting here, so he guesses that means he really is going through with it.

As he begins to scrutinize his real reasons for being here he has a hard time truly coming to grips with his feelings. He really likes Sherlock, finds him fascinating and gorgeous, just thinking about the svelte Omega, high cheekbones and pale smooth skin makes him feel a hunger down to his bones. A need to protect the genius, from his own impulses and from the murders who would hurt him. The problem still lies though with Sherlock himself and if he would ever let John in to be part of his life, as more than just a flat mate. Even if he did, would John really be a good Alpha for him, would he be a good co-parent to Iris or would his attraction toward Iris make him unable to truly be that type of parental figure toward the teenager? John couldn’t deny that he wanted both of them, as much as he had disregarded the fantasy of yesterday the feeling is still there, the want for both of them, just as strong.

He’s called in by a little Beta nurse in the middle of his brooding, still unsure of what he’s doing here besides the prospect of quick money and maybe something to take the edge off of living with two unbonded amazing smelling, made just for him as if heaven felt bad for almost killing him too early, Omegas. The room is typical of any clinic visit, John had hoped to work in an office like this, something quiet and mundane. Something that would ground him on the days he wasn’t chasing down murderers and give him a steady cash flow to boot.

The nurse takes his height and weight before letting him into an exam room, where she gets his blood pressure and asks him dozens of questions about his health, typing it all into the computer as she goes, with her no nonsense attitude. ‘Would have been faster if you just let me write this down before coming here' John thinks. Once she seems satisfied with all his answers, she leaves and a doctor enters, another Beta but this one much more chipper than the nurse that left.

“Hey, nice to meet you…” He looks at John's file for his name. “Doctor John Watson.” He smiles a genuinely bright smile. “I’m Doctor Evans. How's everything going for you today?” He says while sitting and rolling his chair over in front of John, he holds out his hand for John to shake.

“Good, good. And yourself?” As John shakes the offered hand he watches the man carefully, as a doctor himself he knows how an exam should go.

“Wonderful, you are a sight for sore eyes my friend, a new Alpha for the clinic is a big deal, we haven’t had one in almost a year.” He puts on his stethoscope and listens to John’s heart, nodding his head enthusiastically as he goes about the exam.

“Surprising, Alphas are presenting from some of the first years of the mandate, I would think you would be getting a few each month?” John remembers just this morning hearing how Sebastian had a newly presented Alpha child.

“New rules, state we can’t take Alphas under 25, too many young men trying to earn easy money instead of becoming a real part of society first. So our breeders are still mostly Betas and the few older Alphas who are willing to come in. It’s not surprising really, with so many options for Alphas to choose it’s no wonder all of them end up bonded and their spouses unwilling to let them in the clinics.” The exam is going quickly as the doctor talks, he checks reflexes, basic motor skills, and strength without even having to instruct John, likely realizing that John being a doctor means he can do these tests in his sleep.

“Hmm.” John hums noncommittally, knowing that if he could have his desired Omegas he wouldn’t even need them to tell him no, he wouldn’t want to stray from them.

“We can do your orientation right after this, get it all done in one day so when your blood comes back we can have you in for your first official appointments.” The doctor turns around, throwing on a pair of gloves and getting out a variety of needles and tubes for drawing blood.

“Orientation?” John looks at him funny.

“Yeah, you know to go over all the rules and make sure you know what you’re doing when you get in with the Omegas.” At that John’s face flushes a light pink, realizing at (38) years old he's basically going to be given a lesson in sex.

“Sadly, it’s a necessary part of the process, as a doctor I’m sure you’re well aware of how everything works but we have rules and procedures in place to keep the Omegas safe and happy.” Dr. Evans, draws several vials of blood, labeling them and tucking them into their spaces to be shipped to the lab. He draws off his gloves with a hard snap and disposes them in the bio-hazard box. John is overall feeling positive about the whole experience so far, realizing that at least the doctor they have on staff seems competent in his work.

The Beta grabs two packets of papers from the desk and sits back down on the rolling chair. He hands John one of the packets, the top cover has the clinics name and logo, along with ‘Alpha Guide’ in smaller letters underneath.

“Let’s get started, the first page is an example of a paper you’ll be getting very familiar with, it’s the Omega’s preference form. When you come in for appointments we will give you vials of slick from the current Omegas here at the clinic.” He holds his hand up with an example vial, it looks similar to the blood vials. “Once you’ve smelled each vial and selected the Omega you wish to breed the Omega will be given a small sniff of your scent, usually we give you a cotton ball to rub on your gland, that’s more than enough. If the Omega agrees in turn then we can move onto getting you ready.”

“Me.” John looks a little worried.

“All partners are required to shower beforehand to remove any conflicting scents which could confuse the Omega, such as a spouse or friends scent which might have been on you. The Omegas have already showered before they were put in their rooms, so everyone is clean, they should smell only like themselves.” Dr. Evans points to the form. “When you are done with your shower you will enter a small separate room which will contain a few items including this form, which was filled out by the Omega before their heat, when they were in a clear headspace. It tells you their likes and dislikes for the mating session, such as preferred positions or whether they want to be knotted or not.” John looks the page over, realizing that this whole business is going to be a lot more complex than he thought. The page is detailed with different sections, each containing lots of little check boxes and one large section that is just lines for the Omegas to write whatever they want. Positions, pet names, knotting yes or no, and he was going to have to remember this for each individual session.

“When you are done in there you will enter through the other door into where the Omega is waiting. You’ll notice that the Omega will have brought their own bedding with them in order to make a nest here at the Clinic. We wash everything and then give it back so they can scent it anew. Next you’ll notice that the Omegas all wear a special collar while they’re here, you can bite into the collar as much as you want, it will prevent accidental bonding yet you can still somewhat stimulate the Omega through it.” He turns the page and John naturally follows along. The top says rules in big bold letters, followed by at least 50 entries, several with additional bullet points, which continue onto the next two pages.

“You’ll need to memorize these rules, I suggest reading it over several times, but a few key ones include no hurting the Omega, either physically or emotionally, which means no tearing up their nest, I actually as a small recommendation always say you should talk nicely to the Omega and the best way to break the ice is to compliment them on the nest they built. It makes the whole process a bit less awkward. Use it as an ice breaker.” The doctor smiles and bobs his head in a ‘you know what I mean’ kind of gesture. John nods back.

“So, no hurting, no exchanging names or detailed information, this process is supposed to be anonymous and while you will likely see each other’s faces at some point we ask that no one give their names.” The doctor runs his hand over his face and into this hair, ruffling it a bit. “Most of the Omegas in the clinic are here because of the mandate, they aren’t here completely willingly and we need to be respectful to them, you’re not here to please yourself or even them, you’re both here to perform the necessary actions which will ensure a pregnancy.” He sighs and flips the page a few times, he looks exhausted from having to even talk about this, this prior cheeriness leaving as he goes over the details.

“With you being a doctor, I’m sure you’re aware that this program only exists because artificial insemination like we use on cattle works roughly ten percent of the time on Omegas, while physical mating is seventy percent and even up to eighty-five if they’re knotted.” John nods, he feels strangely like he’s intruding suddenly on the man’s personal thoughts but these facts are written right on the page they’d turned to.

“The rest of the packet is how to read the preferences and what each check box means and what to do if the Omega changes their mind during the mating. Such as if they marked no knotting and then during the mating they tell you to knot them. You technically have to follow their original instructions, they can’t consent to anything new once they are in that room. You understand?” He looks earnestly into John’s eyes.

“Yes, of course.” John swallows around the dryness in his throat. This might not be the thing for him after all.

\-----

“I said, “Could you pass me a pen?” John barely hears him as he walks into the sitting room. He thinks for a moment that Sherlock must be talking to Iris but as he looks around the teenager is nowhere to be found, but he does see that Sherlock has done some work, there are pictures of the graffiti from the bank stuck to the mirror above the fireplace. He walks over looking at the images from this morning and drops his jacket and the clinic packet onto his chair.

“What? When?” He finally asks to Sherlock’s own question.

“Bout an hour ago.” The odd Omega is staring at the mirror, not even bothering to address John by looking at him. John just sighs.

“Didn’t notice I’d gone out, then.” He grabs a pen from his little stand and tosses it at Sherlock, aiming for his head and mildly smirking at the thought of what Sherlock’s face would look like if he hit him. But alas, the detective catches the pen without looking or flinching, his eyes and mind fixed on the case. “Where’s Iris?” John knows he asks this question a lot but he wants to make sure his pack, ‘no John they are not yours.’ He wants to make sure the younger is safe, his inner Alpha always too protective of the Omegas, too… _possessive._

“He’s in the bedroom. Your technique with the scarf worked. Here, have a look.” John saunters over, chest puffed out with a little pride from what he did protect Iris today. He leans over the chair that Sherlock is perched in, getting into the Omegas space and those pretty dark curls. He catches a whiff of his wonderful shampoo and he could just bury his face in those soft locks. When he controls himself enough to look at the laptop screen he reads the headline “Ghostly killer leaves a mystery for police.” Sherlock turns his head back and up to look at John and John looks at Sherlock’s face, meeting light blue eyes with his deep blue, a look of intrigue in the former. They’re closer than he meant to be, luckily for him the Omega jerks his head back to the article and John turns away and reads for a moment before saying “An Intruder who can walk through walls?”

“Happened last night. Journalist shot dead in his flat; doors locked, windows bolted from the inside.” Sherlock’s eyes are wide with excitement. “Exactly the same as Van Coon.” The man looks like he could skip about the flat.

“God, you think…”

“He’s killed another one.”

They head out to New Scotland Yard, intent on getting Dimmock to let them into the dead man Lukis’s flat. It barely takes Sherlock a few sentences to convince the man, though he scowls his way through every word he says and is reluctant to even admit that the detective is right. In the end Dimmock meets them over at the flat, just for Sherlock to mystify him again. He rattles off deduction after deduction, the inspector and John listening intently, but the former is quick to laugh in disbelief when Sherlock announces that the killer is getting in by climbing the buildings. But it doesn’t really matter when the detective runs off down the stairs a book in hand and coat flapping about.

In the cab Sherlock explains the book to John and the library they enter is nice, but they’re not here to check out books. The tall Omega leads the way to the section where the pilfered book was picked up and begins haphazardly pulling out books, looking for something. John, not really sure what that something is, copies Sherlock and gets lucky soon after, finding the same markings in yellow spray paint on the back of a shelf. They take a quick picture and are off, back home to analyze they’re new information.

“Welcome home!” Iris is standing in the kitchen and something smells surprisingly wonderful. Sherlock doesn’t even spare the youth a glance before he’s back over at his laptop again, printing out the new photos to add to the mirror.

“What is that delicious smell?” John says with a smile, going over to greet Iris. His Alpha says it’s the Omegas but his belly tells him its meat and that’s just as good. The boy is wearing cute flannel pants and a simple white t-shirt which hugs his delicate frame, revealing just how small he really is. John dreams of coming up behind him for a back hug, grabbing that tiny waist and…

“I made garlic chicken. It’s kind of my specialty.” The kid shoots the widest smile at John, his eyes squinting with crinkles at the corners. He watches as Iris pulls out a whole chicken from the oven, beautifully roasted with bits of garlic over the breast. After he puts it on the table to cool, he makes grabby fingers at John with the oven mitts and the sheer cuteness of the normally more serious Omega catches the Alpha off guard. His instinct takes over and the next thing he knows he’s picked up Iris by the waist hulling him right off his feet, hugging him to his chest and twirling him around happily.

Iris gives a little shout at suddenly being airborne but quickly laughs, latching his arms around John’s neck, hands still in their mitts. “John, haha. What are you doing?!” The Alpha has him in a tight grip his strong arms holding him close and as much as he wants to be put down because he’s getting dizzy the show of strength has that voice in his head absolutely shouting “YES” at the top of its lungs. As much as he loved last night with his father, the grip of the Alpha is different, sturdy and demanding of his attention. He longs to feel that same sensation again, didn’t realize he had wanted to touch so badly, knew he had been being careful not to overstep the boundaries. Taking the Alpha’s shirt had been dangerous enough, but casual touching was something different, something that could easily become more intimate if left unchecked.

But too quickly it’s all over and Iris’s feet hit the ground leaving him standing there with his mouth open, his hair a little wilder and his face pink. His appearance probably rivals his inner feelings which are a mess of confusion and arousal. He had been expecting a positive reaction from the Alpha for his cooking but this was so much more than he had planned on. He was hoping for a smile and “Good job”, but a full body twirling hug. Oh and now his sleeping shirt smells like John, that musky pine forest scent clinging to him like it was meant to be there.

“I didn’t know you could cook!” John bellows happily, voice excitedly loud and boisterous suddenly. He has his hands on Iris’s shoulders, holding him at arm’s length.

“I…yeah, I know a few things. Dad doesn’t cook so I learned just so we had something different.” He looks away from John’s eager face, embarrassed by how much John is just staring at him with awe. Seems like the fastest way to John’s heart might end up being through his stomach, a quote Ms. Hudson had often said to him as she taught him to cook.

From the side, Sherlock watches the whole scene unfold as John finally let’s go of Iris turning instead to the food. The two begin filling up plates and chattering excitedly about the food, before the Alpha starts to chow down, absolutely demolishing the plate of food in front of him. Clearly his eating habits were from his military days if the way he shoved it all down was anything to go on. Iris for his part is cutting off small bites for himself, eating properly as he was taught by his grandmother at a young age, sitting with his back straight. He’s staring at John, a little mystified and he’s clearly still affected by the Alpha’s earlier actions, his posture is tight, unwilling to let himself relax as he overthinks the whole encounter.

It’s a strange sight to see the two together for Sherlock, he had purposefully kept his own distance from John, scared to be hurt like he was so long ago. So to watch an Alpha who could easily hurt Iris like he had been hurt, but know that the Alpha cared deeply enough not to, well it made Sherlock forget about the case for a moment. Made him turn to watch as a kind yet dangerous man sat in his kitchen, eating a meal with his son and it made him yearn for something he had never allowed himself. Long for a connection, the kind he had denied himself for protection, the kind that made him want to have been the one in John’s arms just now. He observes them for a while longer, letting his eyes linger on John, taking in the Alpha fully, his grey blond hair, the broad chest, and the way he licks his lips, a habit Sherlock was starting to like seeing. He files it all away deep into his mind palace, into the new box labeled John Watson, then promptly tries to will away the clench in his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please let me know what you think by adding a comment and I will do my best to get back to everyone.


	4. Jealousy in my Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The case of The Blind Banker continues with Sherlock and John having a bit of a row...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, thank you all for waiting patiently for the next chapter. I know it's been a month, Bubblegum_taffy and I have been working back and forth on making a good chapter. I'll admit that the reason this chapter took so long is because I had written the first 3000 words and had her edit it. She basically told me politely that it was terrible and I agreed with her, so I had to rewrite it. But it took me about a week to think about how to change it all, but I think you will all agree it's for the better.
> 
> As always my work is completely based on fiction and I do not condone the various behaviors portrayed in it in real life, this is all just fantasy. Please feel free to point out inaccuracies and spelling errors and I will change them.
> 
> I would like to thank my lovely beta reader, who I have been working with to make this story the best we can make it. Thank you Bubblegum_taffy! You are so perfect and wonderful! <3

Sherlock sits staring at the mirror. Last night he went out and gathered more information, meeting with a spray paint artist and printing out various cyphers during the night, leaving John and Iris to sleep like normal people. The problem is that during the night his thoughts about the two of them consumed him nearly as much as the case; dark and meddling they creep into his brain, messing with his work. They have him on edge, his teeth clenched as he tries to concentrate on the case, but then the smell of the Alpha in question wafts down the staircase, the man attached to that heady scent padding down into the sitting room.

John mumbles a short ‘morning’ to the room, which Sherlock doesn’t respond too, not that the doctor would have expected one, he knew the detective was working on a case, which would clearly being consuming him. If only he knew how much Sherlock hadn’t been able to make any progress, how he had instead sat down here wallowing in his own unhappiness, as he replayed the twirling hug that the Alpha had given Iris. How much he wished that he had been the one to present John with an offering of food. Iris didn’t even understand what he had done, making food for an Alpha after he had presented food to the Omega many times was an old courting tradition. So, while John and Iris wouldn’t have taken it that way in their minds, Iris had been trying to impress and John reciprocated, enthused with the offering.

It makes jealousy boil in his veins and bile rise in his throat to think of how his life could have been different, how his own abnormalities had kept him from having the kind of life Iris will. One in which he might have a real partner, someone he will care for and will care for him in return. Sherlock knew he had the looks when he was younger, looks that got him attention and that Iris had inherited. They had made people of all genders approach him, interested in dating him, that is until he opened his mouth, spouted out his deductions. While he was always correct people didn’t like having their secrets thrown in their face, but Sherlock couldn’t help it, if you were hiding the kind of secrets people always did then why would he want you around.

John didn’t have secrets, not really, not to Sherlock. He wore his emotions on his face, the wide array that the Omega had already categorized was astonishing, it seemed as if the Alpha preferred to communicate nonverbally, just giving someone a look instead of needing to put words to his feelings. It meant that Sherlock had to actually look at the Alpha more than he had to with other people, other people would drone on and on but not John, the dark pine scented, blond hair, tea drinking Alpha would just give him a look, letting him know everything with a simple glance. He had never had something like that with anyone but Iris.

The Alpha himself can be heard flushing the toilet and Sherlock gets up to intercept him as he comes back into the sitting room. He’s actually surprised when John almost runs him over, his posture tight as he almost runs away from that side of the house. It takes him only a moment to smell Iris’s arousal on the air and John’s own answering one, though his is unpleasant with a tinge of anxiety. He can tell by the blush when John looks up into his face that he must have caught Iris doing something sexual and like the good Alpha John is, he was backing off, leaving the young Omega alone.

Sherlock grabs John on the shoulders, they’re so close, just like the day before in the kitchen, having their conversation about Iris. He just stands there for a moment staring at the Alpha, he wants John to do one of his looks, to tell him what he really thinks of Sherlock. He searches the man’s face but all that’s there right now is confusion as he looks back and forth between each of Sherlock’s light blue eyes. “John.” He wants to say so many things, wants to convey to him how much he likes him, how much he wants to be normal and good for the Alpha. How he wishes he could be John’s Omega, how he wishes he were still young and beautiful like Iris, how he wishes he wasn’t so broken. But instead he just gets angry, angry that the Alpha is distracting him from the case, angry that he didn’t get the twirling hug, angry that he doesn’t get the little happy side looks that are so often directed at his son.

He takes a deep breath and tries to push all his feelings, good and bad to the side. “I need you to go to the police station, now. Get the journalist’s diary or something that will tell us where the man was going. I’m going to go see Van Coon’s P.A. We need to see where these two men coincide.” Sherlock is talking fast causing John to have to stare directly at his lips to try and process everything he’s saying. It’s too early in the morning for the Alpha he hasn’t even had breakfast yet but Sherlock is determined to get them both back to working on the case this very moment.

He slips behind the doctor and starts pushing the Alpha over to the stairs, he can feel his anger still boiling causing him to be even more aggressive than normal, bullying around the man causing all these confusing emotions. He wouldn’t admit that he’s trying to get a reaction out of the Alpha, but he is, he almost wants John to get angry with him, to throw him around a little. Anything that would mean the man was paying attention to him instead of Iris. Getting them back on the case would have John paying attention to him, he will say all those nice things he always says to Sherlock, praising him for his deductions, following him around, and protecting him when he gets in over his head.

“I still can’t place the symbols, if we find where these men connect perhaps we can discover a clue to their origin.” He barely hears himself saying words as he goes up the stairs, he hasn’t been up these stairs since John moved in, doesn’t know what the Alpha’s bedroom looks like. He’s wanted to investigate multiple times, but he knows John’s nose would be able to detect his trespassing, so he has restrained himself so far. Now he pushes the doctor along to where the scent of Alpha is strongest, it hits him in the face when John opens the door, the man only mildly protesting Sherlock’s presence as he strides right in.

John stays stock still in the middle of the room, his posture tight as he watches Sherlock, clearly trying to deduce the detective but how far he’s getting Sherlock isn’t sure since he’s instead opening draws, searching for more appropriate going out clothes than the pajamas that John is currently in. He throws an appropriate shirt and cardigan onto the bed, followed by trousers and goes over to place himself in the Alpha’s space. He hasn’t moved this entire time, still watching the Omega’s movements.

Sherlock knows he’s being forward but he’s feigning innocence as he skims his hands up John’s chest, pulling his shirt up with the intent to take it off. He’s pretending it’s just because he wants the doctor to get ready faster, to get him out the door and working on the case. But he suddenly has a selfish desire to touch the Alpha as Iris got to, his emotions getting the better of him as he watches John’s face change. Before he had been studying Sherlock, then his face had been confusion once again at the feeling of Sherlock’s fingers but now he looks challenging. He knows Sherlock is pushing him, but he gives the look that Sherlock has named the ‘I’m letting you get away with this even though I want to protest’ look. John had apparently developed it because of his Alpha sister, when he had openly objected to her back when they were kids he had gotten a broken arm and multiple concussions over the years, so instead he would give this look, essentially giving up but letting you know he wasn’t happy about it.

His relenting allows Sherlock to pull the shirt completely off, revealing himself to the Omega for the first time, he looks away refusing to look at Sherlock. The detective knows John doesn’t want people to see the scar, to see the damage left by something that should have killed him. He can’t help but memorize the whole thing before moving onto John’s chest. It had felt so warm and inviting against his palms and he can see why, the man may be out of the military but his natural Alpha biology keeps him more naturally muscled than most Beta’s could achieve with regular exercise.

John grabs the shirt on the bed, bringing it over his head roughly, clearly done with being analyzed by Sherlock. He practically rips off his soft sleep bottoms and trusts each leg through his trousers, all while his scent floods the room, his body naturally trying to get the Omega to submit to him, but Sherlock resists. Instead grabbing the wallet from the bedside table and shoving it into John’s back pocket, getting a strange vision of him shoving his hand there to pull the Alpha closer to him as he gets rammed into… ‘NO the case!’ His thoughts protest.

He pulls his hand out as if burned then shakes his head trying to clear it further. John has finished with his trousers and turns with an angry look on his face, clearly Sherlock is getting under his skin, but he’s not done yet. He turns and pushes John again, this time not even saying anything as he shoves him down the stairs, following behind. The scent of Alpha is getting to his head, Sherlock can feel himself want to submit to John, his Omega rearing its ugly head and shouting for him to be good to the Alpha. But he shouts back at it to ‘fuck off’, he won’t submit, he won’t be hurt by an Alpha again, not even by one as good as John. His emotions are tearing him in half as John puts on his shoes, the whole flat smelling of angry Alpha. John finishes and grabs his coat without so much as looking back at Sherlock, clearly upset at the Omega’s behavior, but Sherlock’s not _his _Omega, so he can’t say anything about the behavior. The slam of the door rings in Sherlock’s ears, just as he finally submits, falling to the floor in a heap of pent of emotion.

This is where Iris finds him still when the teenager comes out of their room, searching for the source of the commotion. Sherlock can smell the arousal on him, his brain deducing that the young Omega had been indulging in a morning wank. ‘Like a normal person would.” Sherlock thinks bitterly to himself.

“Dad!?” Iris rushes over to him, he had turned onto his side, curled into the fetal position, trying to fight the urge to cry. “What happened? Are you alright? Why does it smell like John is angry?” The questions fly one after the other but the detective just lays there, hiding his face. Iris might not completely have his gift for reading people, but in this moment Sherlock knows his face is betraying him. It’s showing how confused he is, how the great Sherlock Holmes, Master Detective doesn’t know what’s going on in his own head.

Instead of getting farther away, Sherlock flips onto his back and pulls Iris to him, grabbing onto the teen, tugging him down into a tight hug, letting his son’s weight rest on his chest. Iris doesn’t fight him, realizes that something’s wrong but that arguing would be the worst thing to do right now. He snuggles in close, hoping that he can provide some comfort to his obviously overwhelmed father. As they lay there for a moment, Iris doesn’t even realize when Sherlock moves his hand up and grabs him lightly by the neck massaging over his scent gland. As first he’s confused, his father is clearly upset if the smell of his scent is anything to go by, why would he be trying to… and then it hits him.

He can smell the scent of John mixed with his own. “Did you just _SCENT _me with John?” He feels outraged, tries to back away but Sherlock is too quick, grabbing up the teen and rolling them both to pin him to the ground. Iris tries to protest, trying to break from his hold, until he feels his dad stuff his nose into his neck and take a deep breath. He goes rigid, trying to piece together what’s going on. The angry scent of Alpha, the upset smell of Omega, his father scenting him with John, he’s almost sure that his father confessed to liking the Alpha but then that wouldn’t be like him.

“This is what I would smell like...” Sherlock says strangely, his voice quiet and bordering on crying, filled with too much emotion, it sends a horrible shiver down Iris’s spine.

“Dad?” Iris pulls back, trying to see his father’s face, but Sherlock just buries it farther in, rubbing his own scent gland now over the combined scents and this time Iris can feel it in his chest when his normally poised father heaves out a single sob.

The young Omega shoves his arms out from under his father, before latching on in a forceful hug. They haven’t spoken about how much John is affecting them emotionally, both too scared to verbally admit that they like the Alpha. But they’ve communicated through their looks that something more than just pure scent is driving them both toward the man. Iris himself has watched Sherlock interacting with John and tried to get his father to get closer to the Alpha, tilting his head or nodding in such a way that says “Go get him. Just do it already.” But the older Omega always looks away, pretends he didn’t see his son giving his permission and Iris sees the heart break then in Sherlock’s face. He might be a young Omega, still naive to the world, but he can see when two people should be together, can tell that even if he is falling for the Alpha himself that his father is the one who he truly belongs with. The way they both look at each other when the other is turned away, John’s dark blue eyes warm with love and his father’s mirroring those same feelings, it’s enough to have Iris finally speaking up.

“Dad. You have to stop hiding. Stop pretending you don’t feel anything, like you don’t have emotions.” Sherlock doesn’t acknowledge him, just stays there breathing against Iris’s scent gland. “John is a good Alpha and you like him; I can see it with my own eyes that you want to give him a chance to treat you _right_.” Iris lightly strokes Sherlock’s back, soothingly running fingers up and down.

“He’ll be so good to you if you give him the chance, I know my birth Alpha hurt you, but John is _so_ different from him. He’s restrained and caring; he worries for us both and he’ll protect us with his _life_. You’ve let him hurt others for you, don’t you want to give him the chance to give pleasure as well? The pleasure of sitting by the fire in the winter together, the pleasure of sharing heats together, the pleasure of knowing you’ll belong to each other and no one else forever?” Iris knows he’s speaking some of his own desires into his words, but he also knows his father well enough to know he would want these things too.

“He brings me tea and tries to make me eat breakfast.” Sherlock’s voice wavers a bit but he keeps it steadier as he keeps going. “Alpha’s begin courting Omegas with food, showing they can provide basic sustenance as a first step.” He’s been reading up on Alphas since John’s arrival. His research had shown that Sherlock’s knowledge was severely lacking when it came to that particular secondary gender. “You’re already further with him in the courting process because with the food he provided you made him an actual meal.” Iris feels taken aback, not realizing that his cooking could be taken as a response to John’s courting, not that he considered John buying groceries to be courting in the first place.

“I wasn’t trying to court him, I swear!” Iris now feels a little panicked because he knows his father and John should be together, that he’s too young for the Alpha, knows his affections for the Alpha are _just_ a crush whereas Sherlock’s could be considered real. He doesn’t want to be in the way of their courting, knows John would never pick him anyway.

“I know baby boy, I’m sorry I just can’t seem to control myself, I think my heat is close. I like John and he likes you and it’s making me jealous to see him with you. You’re so young, smart, and pretty, you would cook for him and spend that time by the fireplace with him, wrapped up like a normal couple. But I’m not like that, I keep human heads in the fridge, stare at my microscope for hours, and play my violin too loud.” Sherlock runs his hands through Iris’s hair, soothing him as the young Omega had been doing to him.

“But you’re _wrong_, John really likes you, he looks at you like nothing else matters. You’ve been keeping the dead body parts in a certain draw away from the food, you observe him while you have nothing in the microscope, and you haven’t played your violin since he got here. I bet he would love to hear you play, I know _I_ miss it...” He’s trying to be serious but the way his father runs his fingers across his scalp and through his curls has him purring.

“You’re right. I’ve been letting him change me, but I don’t _want_ to give up the control I have. I’ve worked so hard to have everything the way I want it and he’s _changing_ it. I don’t want to let him change it, but the change is so good, he makes me feel things I have never felt before.” He draws his face finally out of Iris’s scent gland and looks the young Omega over. Iris looks soft and young and is every so often letting out soft little mewls as Sherlock’s fingers run over his head.

“Y-you know change can be a good thing…” Iris lets out a loud sigh when his father uses his nails on the back of his head. “You changed everything for me when I was little and then again even just a year ago, we changed together. We started this…this thing we have and before this I _know_ you wouldn’t do this type of thing even by yourself in heat.” Iris’s words ring true, Sherlock wouldn’t touch himself in or out of heat, still doesn’t, choosing only to engage when it was the two of them together.

“He likes you and hasn’t asked you to change, he didn’t ask you not to play music or to change where you kept the dead things…He just wants to be with you…in all your weirdness. Let him change you, give up some of that control, you’ll be so good together, if you would just let him in. Keep being yourself but work with John so he can also be a better person _with_ you. I know you will both grow together, if you just let yourselves have each other.”

Sherlock sighs, looking down at his beautiful son, knowing how smart and right he probably is over the whole situation. “Would you be mad if John made us stop our thing we have? If I let him in, he might not let me keep my control over you.” He whispers, unsure himself if losing their new found relationship would be a bad thing. If they stopped then maybe Iris could find someone his own age to be with.

“I want you to be happy dad. You’ve been so alone, with just me and I love you because you’re my dad but you also need someone who will love you because you are _you_.” He smiles up at Sherlock and the older Omega smiles down. “If John makes us stop because he is now there to pleasure you, then I am happy to do so.”

Sherlock feels the various emotions still floating around him, the urge to yell and scream because the Alpha is in his way, the urge to ruin his son so maybe the Alpha won’t like him as much, and the need to run from the entire thing until he can clear his head. But his son’s smile helps to alleviate that, just a bit. Instead of wanting to dominate Iris he finds himself wanting to take care of him, to father him like he never got to when his son was just a little pup.

He finally stands and reaches down for Iris, pulling him up into a hug. They stand there awhile, breathing and comforting one another.

“I’m sorry that I’m having trouble figuring this out, I really think my upcoming heat is making me emotional early.” He tries to blame it again on the hormones, but he’s not sure that’s entirely all it is.

“It’s fine dad. You should probably get back to the case. I’ll be here tonight after my morning class.” He gives his dad a short squeeze and backs away, intent on getting back to the bedroom to change. This whole situation had delayed his morning, though he should still make it to class on time.

“I love you Iris. I couldn’t have asked for a better son. I really couldn’t have.”

Iris looks back and beams at him, his smile wide and reaching to his eyes. Sherlock doesn’t think he ever smiled like that in his life, but now he knows what he would have looked like if he did.

\-----

John had been following his lead from Lukis’s diary when suddenly someone bumps into him from behind, turning around he’s surprised to have found Sherlock of all people. The detective seems to have been distracted as well, murmuring to himself but that’s not the only thing John notices about his friend. He smells like John, their distinct scents combined on Sherlock’s skin more than just the latent bit that normally happens from living together, it’s stronger like the other day when the Omegas had been together.

He barely notices when the detective is talking to him, his mind too zeroed in on the fact that Sherlock smells like he belongs to _him_. He had been mad at the detective all morning, for his earlier behavior. While he knows that cases can often make the man erratic the Omega was positively aggressive this morning and John had longed to put him in his place. With his own scent mixed into Sherlock’s it makes him feel possessive, his Alpha telling him he should have disciplined _his _Omega for his actions. The earlier feelings of anger with a hint of desire flood back, making him want the Omega to submit this time.

When John finally snaps out of it, he points over to a little shop across the street, before showing the disbelieving Omega the address to their destination written into the dead man’s journal. The lucky cat shop sits unassuming as people pass by.

They figure out the code after John lifts a cup that contains the secret cypher they’ve been looking for and with Sherlock’s clever mind they find the matching numbers at the market nearby. They head to the café across the street to write down their notes and discuss what they found. The discussion has them determining that Van Coon and Lukis were both smugglers, bringing high dollar items from China and dropping them off here in London. Why they both turned up dead was still to be determined but Sherlock thinks one of them must have kept a high dollar item instead of dropping it off.

John shovels down his food, nodding along until suddenly Sherlock stands asking about rain and dashing off out of the café. The Alpha sighs, looking at his still half uneaten plate of food before grabbing his jacket and running off to follow the Omega. By the time he reaches him the detective has a copy of the yellow pages which he throws back down on the doorstep he presumably just picked it up from.

“It’s been here since Monday.” He rings the doorbell and waits just a few moments before looking around and heading in the direction of an alleyway beside the flats. “No one’s been in that flat for at least three days.” Sherlock says as he reaches the rear of the building, looking up high at the fire escapes along the buildings side.

“Could’ve gone on holiday?” John suggests, though he knows that Sherlock is rarely wrong when it comes to a deduction.

“Do you leave your windows open when you go on holiday?” John watches as the Omega takes a running leap, grabbing onto the fire escape ladder, which he then quickly scales like a damned monkey. John yells for him, angry that he himself can’t get up that high, his shorter stature more built for taking rugby hits instead. He pumps his legs to run back to the front of the building, hitting the doorbell when he gets there, hoping Sherlock will let him in. He gives a low grunt realizing that Sherlock won’t, just like when he left John behind outside at Van Coon’s apartment.

John listens against the door, trying to detect Sherlock’s movements inside the apartment, his Alpha detecting that something feels wrong about this situation but he can’t pinpoint exactly what it is that’s making him feel this way. Within a few moments he hears Sherlock’s voice but he can’t determine what he’s saying, so he stoops down opening the letterbox, hoping that will help him. He shouts into it. “What?” To which he receives more muffled words. He tries shouting again before pacing away from the door for a moment, his anger making pheromones come out unbidden, the entry to the doorway beginning to smell like a forest. He should have just put Sherlock in his place this morning, made the Omega submit to him and stop acting like such an independent tart like this when they are on cases.

“I’m wasting my breath.” He pinches the bridge of his nose, trying to calm himself down breathing out long and slow. He doesn’t know why, but he can feel the adrenaline in his veins, knows somethings about to happen but what he can’t tell, still hung up on something he must have detected but unable to remember what it is. He’s not even bonded to the detective and yet when the man is out of sight, he can’t help but feel like something is _wrong_, that he needs to get back to his side immediately.

After standing there for another few minutes he opens the letterbox again and shouts right into it, figuring if at least Sherlock can hear him it’s better than nothing. “Any time you want to include me.” He listens again but it’s no use, he can only hear Sherlock moving around but he’s not saying anything. “NO, I’m Sherlock Holmes…” He roars at the doorway, though the door itself doesn’t seem to care that he’s angry. “I always work alone because no-one else can compete with my MASSIVE INTELLECT!”

He paces more, worried but unless he wants to break the door down at this point he’s just going to have to wait for the brat detective to finally open the flat. The exact thing happens moments later and he gets his first glimpse of Sherlock since he left him back in the alley. The door closes but John doesn’t notice, just takes in the disheveled look of the detective’s appearance. His shirt is rucked up, scarf pulled to the side, skin paler than usual and as he tries to speak he’s horse. But it isn’t until Sherlock’s scent hits John’s nose that the doctor decides to finally do something, the scared scent of Omega and the scent of an angry Beta both wafting from the apartment make him see red. He realizes, now that the smell is stronger, that he had detected the scent of the Beta nearby when Sherlock had climbed up the ladder.

John grabs Sherlock’s coat lapels and drags him down back into the alley. He shoves the Omega up against the wall before tearing off the blue scarf, needing to get to Sherlock’s soft skin, seeing the red of where someone had tried to strangle him forming marks on the beautiful pale neck he’s been admiring for weeks.

He snarls at the marks, angry someone would do this, angry that someone else’s scent is on _his _Omega. His Alpha is roaring at him to erase the Beta scent, it’s also telling him he needs to comfort the Omega after being attacked, but then yells at him again that if Sherlock had just been a good boy and let him in this wouldn’t have happened. The conflicting emotions have the Alpha speaking and acting without thinking.

He crowds into Sherlock, pushing his chest right against the other, caging him in against the brick wall, trying to keep him safe and comfortable in his arms, while simultaneously asserting his dominance over the younger man. Knowing that no one would dare attack them with his heavy Alpha musk letting everyone know how angry and strong the Alpha is, their instincts would tell them to _back_ _away_ and submit or face the consequences of a real Alpha.

“Should have let me _IN_.” John growls viciously into Sherlock’s neck, his face just a few inches away from the Omega’s scent gland, the smell of frightened pheromones still strong. Sherlock tries to wiggle out of his grasp but John just shrugs it off, instead shoving his hands into the long black coat, wrapping his arms around that tiny waist that he’s been longing to touch. He rubs himself along Sherlock’s body, making sure to scent every inch, erasing any trace of another, it makes him growl possessively as Sherlock’s scent turns back to his normal beautiful meadow smell and mixes with his own.

The heady scent of the two combine drive his instincts more to claim the Omega in his arms, to make the man submit to him. “You’ve been acting up all day. _Don’t_ think I didn’t notice.” He runs his lips across the marks, upset that he can’t leave his own bites instead, trying to control himself even as he practically ruts himself against the detective.

“I wasn’t…” Sherlock tries to protest weakly but the scent of John around him, the Alpha dominating him, controlling, and restricting his movements has his head buzzing. He can’t think as he feels himself being pulled down and suddenly he can feel John’s erection pushing against his own he didn’t even realize he had. His earlier attitude toward the Alpha had been to get almost this exact reaction and while he wouldn’t admit it then, as he gets John’s attention in a random alley after almost being murdered, he’ll admit it now that this is what he wanted and he _loves_ it.

“**Don’t **you dare lie to _me._” John nips at his neck, before pulling the Omega off the wall for a moment and slamming him back against it once more, shoving the air out of Sherlock’s lungs and making him gasp. The sound goes down John’s spine and makes his large Alpha cock throb against the detective’s smaller one, and he knows Sherlock feels it by the way the Omega’s hips grind into his own the next moment, making him moan low in this throat.

“You’ve been acting like a brat all morning. Are you ready to just _tell_ me what’s wrong?” He leaves his right arm curled around Sherlock’s back and moves his left up to dig into soft brown curls, tightening his fist around a handful of the pretty locks and earning a small keening sound from the Omega in return. ”We can discuss these things like adults. Or do I have to just make you tell me!”

Sherlock’s head is spinning, he _wants_ the Alpha but at the same time he despises how much he _wants _him. Hates his body for reacting so strongly, with each twitch of his hips against John, he pants out breaths as he feels arousal like he’s never felt before. It licks deliciously up his spine and pushes him to want to anger the Alpha further, see if he can get the man to take him right here in a grungy alleyway. His Omega instincts scream at him instead to be good and submit, give the Alpha what he wants and for once that voice wins out as all his earlier emotions flood back at him and he goes boneless against John.

Tears come suddenly from his eyes and he turns his face to the side, showing off his scent gland in a sign of submission to the Alpha, who looms over him. He wants to hide his face but he doesn’t really need to because John’s dipping down to his newly offered neck and rubbing his own scent gland over the Omega’s.

John almost loses himself as Sherlock offers his neck, one moment he’s looking at pale skin and the next he’s aggressively scenting the detective, rubbing his face and neck against where the Omega’s scent is strongest out of heat. It’s here as he licks over the gland that he can detect that Sherlock’s scent is slightly different than normal. It’s not preheat, but the subtle change let’s John know that it won’t be too long before his head finally comes. It drives his Alpha wild to finally have the beautiful Omega submit to him in his arms. One of the detective’s long legs comes up to wrap around the Alpha’s hip, prompting John to grab on to it, palming the Omega’s ass cheek vigorously as the man mewls and shivers against him from the intensity. He briefly wonders how far that leg can go, before he’s lifting it up higher and higher, bending Sherlock the way he wants.

“I’m jealous.” Sherlock quietly whispers as he tilts his hips trying to get John to rub across his hole instead of his ass, but the Alpha just grabs and pulls, spreading the Omega’s cheeks as far as they’ll go. Sherlock feels himself leak slick into his pants, can feel his body opening up, getting ready for the Alpha who’s dark pine scent is driving him wild with lust. He had hoped that by saying it lightly that he would essentially confess but that John wouldn’t hear him or question him further.

John slows down, trying to get his head back together as he feels a small sob breaking from the Omega’s slender chest. He grabs Sherlock’s other leg and hoists him up making him wrap his legs around the Alpha’s sturdy waist. It spurs the detective to whine and try to grind his ass down seeking stimulation. John pulls away enough from the wall to sit down on his knees with Sherlock in his lap, then presses the lithe man back against the building. The new position presses John’s cock right to Sherlock’s hole through their clothes, making the Omega leak more slick, which John gets his first whiff of. He longs to shove his nose between the detective’s legs to get a lung full of the sweet scent, but he backs off, putting distance between them so that he can see Sherlock’s face.

He never expected in his lifetime to see the seemingly confident Omega cry. But here they are, Sherlock looking down at John’s chest as tears streak down his face. “Why are you jealous?” John asks quietly, trying to settle the still raging Alpha in his chest.

He can’t think of a single reason why the Omega would be jealous, it’s not like John had been dating and Sherlock had shown almost no interest in him. The only reason he even knew the man liked his scent was because he would sometimes end up smelling like it when he and Iris would… that’s when it hits him. Sherlock isn’t jealous of John dating others outside the flat, he’s jealous of how John’s been acting with Iris.

Sherlock shakes his head, unwilling to answer. Afraid he will sound like a child because really all this jealousy in his head is just childish. He shouldn’t feel possessive of the Alpha or possessive of his son for that matter. He should just be able to talk it all out, to tell John he likes him but it won’t come out.

“Oh Sherlock, you don’t have to be jealous of anyone.” John says, hugging the Omega tight to him. “I don’t know what’s going on in that big head of yours but I’m here for you, I’m here with you because I like you. You’re _so _important to me, you have no idea... and I want to keep you safe, but I can’t do that if you don’t _let_ me.” The Alpha tries his best to convey his feelings without scaring Sherlock off or coming out and saying something stupid like ‘I love you’ way too soon, even if he feels like he’s falling for the Omega more each day.

Sherlock nods his head weakly.

John just sighs, knowing that even if he finally got Sherlock to submit and stop acting out for the moment, that the Omega isn’t going to actually talk about what’s bothering him. Clearly they have some tension, if their erections still standing between them is anything to go by. Sherlock likes John at least in some physical way, which makes him feel better that he’s not the only one weirdly lusting over his flat mate. His attitude also seems to tell the Alpha that it’s probably more than just physically, but the detective doesn’t know what to do about it. It seems like the Omega has had little to no experience with any of this and it’s going to take more than an aggressive grind out in an alleyway to get Sherlock to say what he has been thinking.

They stay connected for a while, John trying to will his anger boner away even as he wants to just rip off Sherlock’s pants the little bit he would need to seat himself inside those velvet walls. Knows if he got the chance to even run his tip over the Omega’s slick hole he wouldn’t be able to control himself right now. His body too wound up, the feel of Sherlock in his arms and the smell of the man’s arousal evident in the air has his knot half formed. He tries but fails to not grind it a little into the Omega, letting him feel what John wants to give him.

Sherlock seems to be calming down just as slowly, gripping the Alpha hard and not letting them separate from their hug. They keep their noses buried in each other’s necks, breathing in sync against one another. It feels like the detective thinks that by them letting go in this moment, that John might just disappear. The Alpha’s not sure how he can convince the Omega he won’t go, he can’t fully claim him, not without them talking first, but he can put a small temporary claim on him. A bruise over his scent gland like what he had done to his son the other day. John knows it’s a bad idea, will only make their aroused stated worse, but he would rather sit here longer and have Sherlock finally relax verses the tense ball of stress currently in his arms.

John pulls back just a bit and moves his mouth to rest against Sherlock’s gland, seeing if the detective will reject him for a few moments before he licks over it. The Omega just moans lightly, tilting his head to the side, letting John have more access to that long pale neck. He licks over the bump once more before lightly latching his mouth around it. He doesn’t want to actually stimulate Sherlock too much, but he wants that claim with all his heart. As he sucks gently, breaking the skin below with his mouth, his teeth ache to sink into the offered flesh. He runs them over the surface of the skin careful not to break through or be too aggressive. He grips the Omega by his slim hips, when he feels Sherlock grinding against his knot in response to his claim. Their bodies know what to do and the detective is so out of it at this point he’s being driven on instinct alone, the temporary claim stirring him to try and get a full claim from the Alpha. He presents his neck further and shoves his face forward, but John just holds him still and growls deep in his chest. He ruts more against Sherlock but stops his hips when he finally unlatches his lips and places a small kiss there instead.

The mark he leaves is beautiful and makes his chest swell with emotion. The best part is that Sherlock has gone limp, purring and sated, a small smile on his lips as he finally looks up at John. Locking eyes, a small barely there blush across his high cheekbones. It’s not the most romantic setting, it’s not even the end of a date or something similar, but for some reason when he sees that small smile, John can’t help but lean forward and plant a, small barely, there kiss on Sherlock’s lips. It’s such a contrast to how they’ve been acting, how rough he had handled Sherlock in his anger. He never wants to be like that, has always prided himself on being a calm Alpha, but something about Sherlock riles him up, makes him want to be aggressive and yet he’s so soft for the man in his arms.

It takes a long time before they are able to make it out of the alleyway, each time one of them moves against the other they end up grinding into each other again, the vicious circle starting and stopping again, driving them both a little mad in the process. Clothes are straightened out, pheromones placed in check, and Sherlock’s new claim mark hidden beneath his scarf. John takes his hand and they walk back to the front door. “What now, obviously we must be on the right path.” John asks.

Sherlock stoops down and picks up a ripped open letter, which must have come out of the door when the detective exited in a rush earlier. It’s addressed to Soo Lin. “Well, maybe we can start with this.”

\-----

From the museum to the skate park then back home and back to the museum, John follows Sherlock around, the smell of their combined scents on his skin being noticed by practically everyone who they come in contact with. It makes John puff out his chest in pride that he managed to get Sherlock Holmes to let him scent him and unbeknownst to anyone, give him a temporary claim. It’s so uncommon to smell a combined Alpha and Omega scent with Alpha’s being scarce and everyone they meet seems to have their own interesting reactions, some of which seem to distract Sherlock from his investigation. For example, the spray paint artist who shows them an old tag snickers at him and the Omega has to tell the man to fuck off, though it seems more playful than he probably intended.

For John’s sake the night goes swimmingly, Sherlock’s mood has vastly improved, in fact he seems so on his game, that the Alpha can’t help but spout out compliments and praise the entire time. His earlier misgivings at the Omega have melted away. Even when it’s John who’s showing Sherlock his brilliant idea to photograph the yellow graffiti he finds, he still ends up praising the Omega in his head, telling him how beautiful the smile on his face looks as he beams at John with love in his eyes.

John finds Soo Lin lying dead on the table, the little Omega grasping a black lotus origami flower. John and Sherlock’s earlier mood changes after that, the thrill of the hunt and the new thing between them is suddenly smashed to bits as they realize they’ve failed to keep her safe. The bodies left behind are starting to pile up higher as they try to solve the case and figure out their feelings for each other at the same time. It makes them refocus, leading them first to Dimmock, whom they take along to the morgue and then finally they are back home once again.

Iris is happy to greet them both, but quickly ends up with his mouth hanging open when he catches their combined scents as they walk into the sitting room, which has been filled with books from the two dead men’s apartments. Dimmock hands John the pictures from the museum before leaving, though not before having a good look at Iris then back at Sherlock and back again, obviously working out how Sherlock could have such an older son and probably wondering why they looked exactly alike.

The three men work together until John falls asleep on the couch. Iris himself ends up tired but with John asleep he thinks it’s the perfect time to finally ask what happened between them. His father protests at first, still trying to figure out the code, books all over the place but Iris is nothing but persistent. He grabs his father’s hand and takes him back to their room, shutting the door and hugging his dad, loving the mixed scents as he rubs his head along his chest. “Tell me, _please._” He uses his pleading tone that his father was never good at refusing.

The story takes longer than he wanted but Sherlock recounts the details, from the strangling attempt to the sheer size of John’s cock through his trousers. Iris is upset at the end when he says: “But you didn’t tell him anything, he confessed that he _liked _you and you didn’t say you liked him _back_.” The young Omega gives a big huff, clearly feeling like the tension between the two was still unresolved. “This is like some terrible drama where the two main characters could just get together, but they just end up fighting instead.” He says to the open room.

Sherlock doesn’t let it get to him, even if he knows Iris is right. He’s still too emotional and he hasn’t truly spoken to John about what they are to each other. The mark on his neck is wonderful but temporary, it will fade with time if John doesn’t renew it. But the case is still on and Sherlock knows they will have time later to talk to each other. Together the two Omegas wake up the Alpha and head out to a circus, though John isn’t entirely sure why until they tell him it’s related to the case.

John picks up the tickets under Sherlock’s name and the three watch the performance. John and Iris standing side by side, while Sherlock in all his tallness stands right behind them, observing over their shoulders. John protests that this isn’t a real circus, it’s more like an art performance and Iris just shushes him as someone begins tapping out a strange rhythm on a drum. In the center of the room a women dressed in red silk robes removes a cloth from what looks to be an old large crossbow. John licks his lips nervously, as he watches the women load a large bolt, he looks back at the two Omegas, Iris looking excited while Sherlock just observes.

She takes a single feather from her head dress and drops in onto the crossbow, which fires, sending the bolt flying into a board across the room. Everyone seems a little stunned and John has a bad feeling about the weapon. Iris claps along with the other people as a man walks into the center, wearing a strange bearded mask. Two men come out and place chains on the man and tie him to the board which had previously been impaled by the bolt.

“Classic Chinese escapology act.” Sherlock says and Iris gives an affirming noise, while John looks at them confused as to how they would know that. “The crossbow’s on a delicate string. The warrior has to escape his bonds before it fires.” The men finish chaining down the warrior, the man making sounds of pain as they force him into position.

A gong rings out suddenly and Iris jumps before clutching onto John’s arm for protection. He laughs a moment later, realizing what the sound was and let’s one of his arms drop, though he still holds on with the other. The Alpha tries not to preen over knowing he makes the Omega feel safe, that Iris is willing to latch onto him without too much care.

“She splits the sandbag; the sand pours out; gradually the weight lowers into the bowl.” Sherlock says behind them and they get to watch as she follows exactly what he said, as if he had instructed her himself to do it. The warrior struggles against the board, eventually releasing one and then the other arm, before escaping just as the bolt fires. Iris lets go as the whole crowd claps, but as John looks back to see what Sherlock thought he finds that the detective is missing.

John tries his best not to release a cloud of panicked pheromones and turns back to the show, but in the back of his mind he’s worried. The nerves from earlier come creeping back, how Sherlock had almost been strangled to death when John hadn’t gone after him. He could have easily broken down the door to save his mate….no not mate…could have broken the door down to save the detective. Now the man has gone off _again _but John can’t follow him because then he would be leaving Iris alone and no one in this small crowd would be able to protect the young Omega. 

Instinctively he wraps his arm around Iris, letting his hand come to rest around the Omega’s thin hips. The teen tenses at first, unsure of the touch but looks around to also notice that his father is gone. He stands straighter, now on alert. John watches as his eyes change to match his father’s piercing ones, the same kind he saw when he first met Iris, the ones meant for the rest of the world, not the cute doe eyes that he gets around the flat. Iris is now in detective mode, something John knew the Omega could do like his father but hadn’t yet seen. He scans everyone, no longer interested in the performance itself but instead analyzing the entire situation.

“Ladies and gentlemen, from the distant moonlight shores of the Yangtze River, we present for your pleasure the deadly Chinese bird-spider.” The lady in the red robes says as the crowd watches in awe. A man in a black mask descends from the ceiling, unraveling himself from a red band which is wrapped around his waist. The people clap as he stops just a few feet above the ground. Iris specifically watches the red robed woman as she walks off the small stage and back to the dressing rooms presumably. He doesn’t like her, but he has no reason yet to move from beside John.

The performance goes on with the man twirling about on his bands but something catches John’s eye and then Iris’s. Movement up on the small stage, the curtain waving as if hit by someone, which isn’t suspect in and of itself until Sherlock comes flying out, landing hard on his back to the floor below, followed by a masked man who flips off the stage.

John instantly runs in, eyes on the masked man who raises a weapon that the Alpha doesn’t even focus on, instead slamming into the man, making them both hit the stage. The man somehow slips from his grasp and gets in a kick, right to his stomach, knocking him down and winding him, causing him to gasp as he tries to get back into the fight. But as he goes to rush back in after catching some of his breath, he watches as Iris beats the man with one of the crossbow bolts while Sherlock kicks at the man’s legs.

The man goes down and John grabs onto Iris, pulling the Omega along as he watches the detective take off the man’s shoe, revealing the same black lotus mark as the other victims. He gets up to follow and the three of them book it out of there, John still winded but managing to keep up with the long legged pair.

\-----

Dimmock isn’t very happy that they didn’t find a single piece of evidence.

\-----

Arriving home, everyone is in a mood, having gotten no farther than they were a few hours ago. They walk into the sitting room, Sherlock taking his spot in front of the mirror, nervous energy pouring off of him. John in contrast stands behind him at parade rest and Iris decides to sit instead where John had been perched earlier going through the books.

“They’ll be back in China by tomorrow.” John says off handedly.

“No, they won’t leave without what they came for. We need to find their hide-out; the rendezvous.” Sherlock snips back with confidence. “Somewhere in this message it _must_ tell us.” He runs his fingers over the various pictures, unsure which one would tell him the information he really needs.

John sits on a box of books, his head hurting from the lack of sleep. He honestly doesn’t know how Sherlock does it, doesn’t eat, doesn’t sleep, yet still seems to outrun and outthink him at every turn. God he loves him.

“Dad?” Iris says in a strange tone.

Both of them look over at him, though John responds more to the way he said it rather than what he said. The young Omega is holding onto the pictures that Dimmock returned from the murder scene, that they had been showing to Soo Lin before she died. The kid jumps up unexpectedly and shoves the photo into Sherlock’s face.

“Dad! There are two words translated on the picture!” The detective grabs it and lays it down flat, seeing for the first two words have been written in blue pen. ‘Nine’ and ‘Mill’ in all caps above a pair of the yellow numbers, John confirms it when he steps up next to the two and gets his own look.

“Nine mill.” Sherlock says out loud.

“Does that mean ‘millions’?”

“Nine million quid. For what?” Sherlock says his eyes darting back and forth as he tries to think of an answer. He darts over and grabs his coat, throwing on his blue scarf with it. “We need to know the end of this sentence.” He says as he goes to rush out the door.

“Where are you going?” John asks, not following what’s happening just yet.

“To the museum; to the restoration room. We must have been staring right at it!” To the side Iris is nodding his head but John doesn’t get it yet, instead asking what Sherlock is on about.

“The _book_, John. The _book_! The key to cracking the cipher!” He waves the photo around madly. “Soo Lin used it to do this! Whilst we were running around the gallery, she started to translate the code. It must be on her desk.” He yells before turns and dashing down the stairs. John and Iris just stare after him, hearing the front door open and shut, surprised he managed to actually do the later for once.

John turns around looking confused but just shrugs in his offhanded way. When he looks back at Iris he smiles a strange half smile Iris hasn’t seen on the Alpha’s face before. He doesn’t have long to think about it before the doctor is speaking. “You did really well taking down that man with the bolt. It was quick thinking.” Iris at first looks confused, like he doesn’t remember what happened, then all the sudden he’s laughing. “Don’t laugh, you did a really good job.”

The Omega finally looks at John, he’s so close and they’re the same height so he can look directly into those dark blue eyes. John’s eyes are kind and his smile is genuine, he’s not making fun of Iris like the teen is used to with others, often falling into the same ‘weird’ category that most people regard his father with. Up until this point John had only praised him a few times, the most expressive one being when the Alpha had given him the twirling hug for his cooking.

“I’m really proud of you for stepping up. I think I’ve been underestimating you and I’m sorry for that.” John reaches out, patting Iris on the shoulder and then leaving his hand there, looking him straight in the eyes, his heart happy. In a split second decision he pulls Iris in for a hug, holding him tight. Iris makes a surprised noise but doesn’t resist, hugging back, breathing in the Alpha’s scent. He’s happy about the hug until he feels John take a shuddering breath.

“John?” He questions.

“I’m glad you were there. When I turned around I thought for sure Sherlock was going to have a sword in his chest.” He gives another tight squeeze around Iris’s shoulders and releases him, backing away, head down ashamed at showing weakness in how worried he was. He wasn’t able to protect the Omegas in that moment, had been bested by a kick to the stomach by a Beta. He feels embarrassed, if he couldn’t protect them in that moment then how could he protect them in the future, or god forbid from something _worse_.

Iris can smell as John’s scent changes, no longer that nice calming Alpha scent that smells of a cool forest, but instead sour as the good doctor clearly becomes upset. He wants to let John know its okay, but down stairs there’s an insistence knocking on the door. They both look toward the stairs.

“It’s probably your dad. Must have locked himself out when he left.” John goes to answer it.

“He wouldn’t be back already, it’s too soon…”

\-----

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please let me know what you think by adding a comment and I will do my best to get back to everyone.


	5. Heat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shen has John and Iris, what will Sherlock do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, thanks for continuing onto the next chapter and for waiting so long. I've had to break The Blind Banker into three parts in order to keep the chapters roughly the same length, and even so I ended up with an extra 5K words in this one but I felt like it needed it. As always my work is completely based on fiction and I do not condone the various behaviors portrayed in it in real life, this is all just fantasy. Please feel free to point out inaccuracies and spelling errors and I will change them.
> 
> Read all the tags, this chapter specifically deals with the two newest tags of mentioned past rape and suicide. If these are trigger for anyone please feel free to skip the chapter or section, I won't be mad at all if you dont read those sections. Your mental health means more to me than my writing.
> 
> This chapter is not beta read due to my beta reader being busy and me not wanting to hold the chapter back any longer. That does mean that the chapter might change a bit as I find more edits, though the main content should remain the same overall.
> 
> Thank you for continuing to enjoy my fic. <3

John wakes up with the worst hangover he thinks he’s ever had, or at least the absolute worst headache he’s ever had. He doesn’t really remember drinking though, he’d had nothing to celebrate and they had been on a case, but hadn’t solve it yet. Had they? He tries to open his eyes but winces when he feels his head throb. But it’s not the kind of throb that comes from too many beers, it’s more like he got punched in the face.

  
“A book is like a magic garden carried in your pocket.” He can hear a woman speaking with a thick accent and as he tries once again to look around with a single eye open he sees Iris beside him. The young Omega is tied to a chair with a gag in his mouth, but he doesn’t look scared. He’s got his calculating eyes staring down something in front of him. John looks in the same direction, finding a Chinese women whom must have been the one speaking. She’s wearing sunglasses despite how dark it is, only a few fires lit in the strange tunnel around them to provide light. Behind her stand two Chinese men, all of them are dressed in black.

  
The woman approaches the two of them and disoriented as he is, John just stares at her. When she finally reaches him she takes off the sunglasses, perching them on her head. “Chinese proverb, Mr. Holmes.” She smirks and John just looks at her confused for a moment.

  
“I ... I’m not Sherlock Holmes.” He tries to swallow, his throat terribly dry.

  
“Forgive me if I do not take your word for it.” Her strange smile never falters as she reaches into John’s coat pocket and removes his wallet. He barely spares it a glance as he feels around the ropes holding his hands together, trying to devise a plan as the women continues speaking. Hoping that he can buy enough time for him to break out of the restraints.

  
She opens the wallet and removes a piece of paper, which she unfolds. “A cheque for five thousand pounds made out in the name of Mr. Sherlock Holmes.” She puts it back in the wallet and digs some more looking for more evidence.

  
“That’s not mine. He gave that to me to look after.” John looks over to Iris and the kid is still just staring right at the women. Though movement of his hands can be seen from the Alpha’s angle, so he’s luckily not the only one trying to escape.  
“Tickets from the theatre, collected by you, name of…Holmes.” She puts the ticket back and throws down the wallet, carelessly.

  
“Yes, okay…I realize what this looks like, but I’m not him.” John’s getting a little upset now and the area begins to smell of pine forest as he lets his emotions get the better of him. He needs to protect Iris, and while they haven’t threatened the teen directly, John is sure that something bad is going to happen soon.

  
“We heard it from your own mouth.” She says, as if it should make total sense in John’s mind.

  
“What?” John questions. Wondering when he would have ever said something like that.

  
“I am Sherlock Holmes and I always work alone ...”

  
John can’t help but let out a humorless laugh, realizing that while he couldn’t hear what Sherlock was saying in Soo Lin’s flat, the man strangling Sherlock must have been able to hear what he was shouting into the flat. “Did I really say that?” He questions to the open air, before wincing away in pain as his head throbs again. “I suppose there’s no use me trying to persuade you I was doing an impression…” Suddenly, there is a small black gun in front of his face, pointed directly at him. He flinches away, a flashback of the searing pain of his shoulder wound suddenly felt through his whole body. He looks away from the weapon and lets out a long slow breath, trying to calm himself before his scent gives away how scared he unexpectedly feels.

  
“I am Shan.” The woman says confidently.

  
John takes another moment to calm down before he looks up at her. He tries to refocus, he had stopped trying to free his hands when he saw the gun, but now he tries to double his efforts. “You’re ... you’re Shan.” He says.

  
“Three times we tried to kill you and your Omega companion, Mr. Holmes. What does it tell you when an assassin cannot shoot straight?” She racks the slide of the gun before putting her finger on the trigger. John wiggles around, knowing that he can’t yet escape. He’s panicking a little as he considers breaking his own thumb to get out of the bonds, but it’s too late as she pulls the trigger. The gun gives a click but nothing happens, there’s no loud bang or pain. He opens his eyes and looks up to the women who smiles smugly above it. “It tells you that they’re not really trying.”

  
John can’t help it now, his pheromones are in the air and the earlier slight smell of anger is being covered up by the smell of panic. Iris beside him looks a little worried now as he watches the scene unfold, John’s scent affecting him, warning him of danger and telling him he should be running. Shen reaches into her pocket and retrieves a pistol clip and slides it into the weapon before once again racking the slide.

  
“Not blank bullets now.” She says mockingly.

  
John’s scent permeates the air even worse now, as he sees that the women means business. Her weapon is ready and this time he won’t get away if she does pull the trigger.

  
“If we wanted to kill you, Mr Holmes, we would have done it by now. We just wanted to make you inquisitive.” She looks at him sternly, a frown on her face, now that her playtime seems to be ending. “Do you have it?” She asks him.

  
“Do I have what?” He genuinely doesn’t know what artifact she’s talking about but he suspects it’s whatever they’re willing to pay nine million quid for.

  
“The treasure.”

  
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He tries to play dumb, stalling as he tries to get his head together to get out of this situation. He licks his lips, his nervousness betrayed by his own body language.

  
“I would prefer to make certain.” She turns away and stands next to him, watching as one of the men, whom had been waiting by up until now, leans over to pull aside a sheet that is covering something.

  
John hadn’t noticed it standing there, too disoriented when he woke up and then Shen being in his way after. The large crossbow from the earlier circus is revealed, facing away from where they currently sit. The Alpha lets out a deep groan, recognizing the medieval looking contraption from earlier. He can see that this time a bolt has already been loaded.

  
“Everything in the West has its price; and the price for the young Omega’s life ...” She tilts her head over toward Iris and when John looks now the calm demeanor has been washed away from his beautiful face. Bright blue eyes are round with fear as the teenager stares his possible death in the face. He doesn’t cry out or struggle with the ropes that bind him tight, not until the two men walk over and grab Iris’s chair, hauling him up, taking him around the front of the crossbow.  
“…Information.”

  
John struggles again to get out of the chair but it’s useless, he’s not strong enough to break out of it and Shen still has a gun to his head. He doesn’t want to provoke her to shoot him before he has the possibility of getting Iris free.

  
“_Where’s_ the hairpin?” Shen says forcefully and he finally gets a small whiff of her Beta scent as she gets mildly upset with him. “The Empress pin valued at nine million sterling. We already had a buyer in the West; and then one of our people was greedy. He _took_ it, brought it back to London and you, Mr. Holmes, have been searching."

  
Across the little area John can hear Iris as he starts to make noises, crying out behind the gag in his mouth. He doesn’t know if the Omega is trying to talk to him or get his attention, but he can hear how desperate it sounds. It spurs his inner Alpha, which tells him he must protect his young mate. He latches onto that feeling in his heart, lets it grow.

  
“Listen to me. I’m not ... I’m not Sherlock Holmes. You have to believe me. I haven’t found whatever it is you’re looking for.” He says, anger rising as the repulsive Beta doesn’t seem to understand what he is saying to her.

  
“I need a volunteer from the audience!” Her voice suddenly goes all cheerly, as if she is putting on a show. She looks back at where Iris is struggling to try and release himself.

  
John shouts. “NO!” He tries to put his Alpha voice behind it, but he’s too panicked and Shen doesn’t even flinch at the sound. “Please…please!”

  
“Ah yes, what a fine young volunteer we have. You’ll do very nicely.” The Beta walks toward the crossbow which is already set up with the hanging sandbag like before. She splits the bag with a knife and Iris cries out in anguish, tears now streaking his face. He’s seen what the bolt of that crossbow can do, knows that unless it kills him instantly he will suffer as he dies, watching as the Alpha looks on helpless. He knows John has no idea where the treasure is, if his father hadn’t found it then the poor doctor would certainly have no idea.

  
“Ladies and gentlemen. From the distant moonlit shores of NW1, we present for your viewing pleasure Sherlock Holmes’ little companion in a death-defying act.”

  
“PLEASE!” John yells.

  
Shen pulls something from her pocket and slowly places it down on Iris’s lap. It’s a black origami lotus, like the ones found on the dead bodies.

  
“You’ve seen the act before. How dull for you. You know how it ends.” She says to Iris, who’s eyes show nothing but fear.

  
“I’m not Sherlock HOLMES!” John shouts frantically.

  
“I don’t believe you.” Shen says dully, clearly done with her little play acting. Seriousness, mixing into her words.

  
“You should, you know.” A deep voice booms through the tunnel and behind Shen, John can see an outline of Sherlock, the light at the end casting a glow around him.

  
“Sherlock Holmes is nothing at all like him.”

  
Shen raises her pistol and aims it toward Sherlock. The detective must see her because he dodges to the side into the darkness. She motions to one of the men and he runs over to where the stealthy Omega has hidden himself.

  
“How would you describe me, John? Resourceful? Dynamic? Enigmatic?” The Alpha lets out a relieved breath, happy that at least one of them is free. He tries to keep breaking out, knowing that Iris is still in danger and having both Sherlock and himself free would be better than just one.

  
“Late.” John says in a little cheeky voice, even though he knows it’s the completely wrong time for it.

  
Sherlock keeps talking to Shen and even seems to knock out the Beta grunt who had run over to get him. John only knows because he hears what sounds like metal hitting against the guys skull and then a loud thud as he hits the ground. Meanwhile, he’s gotten some of the ropes looser, at least enough that he can slightly stand as he tries to waddle his way over to the crossbow. He gets close but loses his footing and awkwardly falls to the side, the chair stuck to his back, though he heard a pop which might have been something starting to break on it.

  
A bang can be heard and darkness descends from where Sherlock has kicked over one of the lit barrels. John can’t see where Shen goes or even pick out Sherlock until the detective is right behind Iris, grabbing at the ropes that bind his only child. The person that means more than anything in the world to him.

  
Suddenly, a pair of hands forces a red scarf around Sherlock’s neck, choking him and pulling him back away from Iris, who’s sobbing and staring at the weighted ball which continues to sink lower toward the crossbow hairpin trigger.

  
Seeing Sherlock being choked sends John into a rage, his earlier instinct to protect Iris helping to ignite the fire, he just sees in his head the red marks around the detective’s neck from earlier and he let his Alpha out. The adrenaline rush kicks in fast and he tears one of his legs free from the chair, another pop as the chair’s leg snaps. He lands a kick to the back of the crossbow causing it to point toward the ground and fire its bolt, which sticks half into the dirt of the floor.

  
Iris is safe now but Sherlock is still wrestling around behind him, John can hear him gasping for air as the scarf gets tighter and tighter. John’s completely lost to his Alpha, pheromones pumping out of him, causing Iris to whine and throw his head back, baring his neck in submission. Sherlock isn’t getting enough oxygen to be affected, but the Beta is having trouble fighting his instincts to submit. His grip loosens enough for Sherlock to get a breathe but he’s right back to being strangled a moment later as the Beta tightens up again, resisting his instincts.

  
The Alpha snarls and breaks his hands free of his bondage, slipping the chair from his remaining leg as he gets up. He rushes toward the pair still grappling, grabbing the crossbow bolt as he goes. It’s sturdy in his hand, heavier than it looked from earlier but he wouldn’t be able to tell you that, his head too lost in anger. The Beta man turns toward John, his face betrays his fear as John charges at him. The Alpha’s rage at someone hurting his marked mate has him plunging the bolt straight into the man’s chest without a moment of hesitation. It sinks in with little resistance, the strength of the Alpha more than enough to have the tip exiting through the man’s back. The Beta falls backward onto the ground, blood spilling from his mouth as John stands over him shoulders heaving with each large breath he takes. He snarls loudly down at the man, his Alpha dominance forcing the strange howl from him, but the action helps to begin calming him down. His mates are protected and safe now that he’s free and at least one threat has been extinguished.

  
Sherlock manages to free himself from the long scarf and gasps some much needed breathes, though the scent of angry Alpha clouds his mind. He knows it’s just John but he feels scared at the moment, this is the first time the Alpha has been mad when killing someone else for Sherlock. When he had shot the cabbie he had been calm but this was a whole different person. John's true Alpha instinct to protect having been unleashed but that didn’t necessarily mean he and Iris are safe. The Alpha could easily turn on them if he's too far gone.

  
The detective grapples at Iris's ropes, freeing his hands and legs. He gently but quickly takes out the gag and helps his son up, the teen grabbing onto his father in a tight hug as he sobs into his coat. Sherlock backs up, dragging Iris with him to put a little distance from the Alpha. It doesn’t really work that well because John turns around searching for them when he hears the movement. He's not breathing heavy anymore but his eyes still look dangerous. Sherlock locks his arms tighter around Iris, bracing in case John strikes. But it’s unnecessary as John let’s out a long breath and smiles fondly at them, calmly walks over to the Omegas. He comes up to Iris and hugs him from behind, wrapping his arms around the two Holmes', burying his face into the young Omega's curls.

  
“It's okay pup. It's okay.” John says, his voice calm and clear, no hint of his earlier rage. His scent itself becomes its usual fresh pine and it washes over all of them, calming Iris inside the little safe cocoon made of his two favorite people. His crying slows and then stops altogether as they huddle in the dim lit tunnel. It takes some time for them to separate but its Sherlock who does first, pulling out his cell phone and dialing up Dimmock, letting him know where they are and what happened. Iris turns around then, huddling into John, who leads him over to sit in the chair that he had just been freed from. John sits first and pulls Iris into his lap, head tucked into the Alpha's scent gland, strong arms protectively wrapped around him.

  
Dimmock arrives, gets statements, and let’s John know he'll have to come down later for further questioning, but since he was well justified in his attack on the now dead man there's only paperwork to do. The inspector lets them leave, John carrying a now worn out and half asleep Iris, bridal style to a waiting cab. He won’t let go of the little Omega, his instincts are still high and the way the teen reacted to the danger has the Alpha on alert for his mental state, looking out for signs of shock. Sherlock had been calmer, so he feels a slightly less need to protect him now, his mental state obviously in a better state than Iris’s.

  
In the cab they put Iris in the middle, both still in protective mode. They hold hands together over his lap and press up against either of his sides. John’s never felt like this before, and as they ride together silently he can’t help but feel like this is how a family should feel. Not the messed up kind he had growing up, his mom gone, dad an abusive drunk and older sister an aggressive Alpha who followed in the footsteps of their father. No, it should feel like this, cozy and calm, his hand locked together with someone he feels connected to. The scare of almost losing Iris has shown him how much he needs to make this work. How living without these two Omegas in his life would be impossible, his life losing its meaning and purpose.

  
Iris wakes up enough that he’s able to walk up to the flat behind John, the Alpha clearing the way, making sure none of the Black Lotus are hiding in the flat. The yellow spray paint on the windows makes him growl lowly in his throat, but there’s no other scents in the rooms, meaning that after they were attacked the men didn’t stick around for anything more than a quick painted threat.

  
Once the flat is secure, Sherlock and Iris take a shower, washing away the sweat and foul scents that cling to their clothes and skin. John goes up to his room and grabs his gun. Shen is still out there and it’s possible she could return to try and finish them off. Dimmock has a officers on watch outside just in case but the Alpha isn’t convinced that a few detectives in a marked car would deter the smuggling ring from coming back to finish them off. There’s still an expensive pin that’s missing and they think Sherlock has the answer.

  
Once John confirms that all the doors and windows are secured, he gets his own quick shower, the warm water helping to wash away some of his anxieties. He dresses in some lounge wear, a soft shirt and sleep pants, which seem strange to be wearing while he carries his gun everywhere around the flat. He checks on the Omegas, coming to the doorway, the light from the kitchen illuminating just a part of the room. Enough that he can see the two of them, snug together in the nest. He breathes out a sigh of relief, just seeing them safe has his Alpha content, his urge to protect them stronger than anything he’s ever felt before.

  
He sees Sherlock turn his head to look at him in the doorway, making eye contact in the dim light. John smiles a small happy smile and the detective returns it. His eyes change and with a moment’s hesitation he lifts his arm and beckons the Alpha into the room. John’s never been in the Omega’s room, has kept it off limits just as Sherlock seemed to do for him. A mutual but unspoken decision. Now with Sherlock’s permission granted he enters and lightly closes the door, putting his gun on the bedside table. His eyes adjust slowly to the new darkness, but he makes his way over to the bed. A hand finds his in the dark and John climbs into the bed beside Iris, once again putting the teen in the middle between them.

  
He lays down hesitantly, unsure of his presence in their space, but once again a hand is there pulling him closer and he shuffles until he’s snuggled in tight with the two of them. He puts his arm over Iris and against Sherlock’s side. The two of them have their heads on the pillows but Iris is down farther, his face buried in his father’s chest. It allows for Sherlock to look directly at John, their faces close together, breathing the same air. It’s relaxing and John feels the tension of the day slowly bleed out of him.

Who would have thought his day would have started with Sherlock barging into his room and end with him being invited into their room.

  
“You’re smarter than you think.” Sherlock says lightly after they’ve all settled.

  
“Am I now? Why’s that?” John says just as lightly, opening his eyes which had slid shut without him realizing. The weight of the day starting to crash down on him.

  
“I saw you thinking when we were in Sebastian’s office. You made a discovery about Iris.” John locks eyes with Sherlock, his heart suddenly hammering in his chest, sleep no longer fogging his brain. He had forgotten in all the chasing and gun fighting that this whole thing had started with what he thought was supposed to be a simple trip to the bank. He licks his lips unsure of what to say, glancing down at the top of Iris’s head. He thinks the young Omega is asleep but he could be wrong.

  
“Don’t worry, he knows.” Sherlock assures him.

  
“Sebastian…is…” John tries to start but finds that his voice has been lost. He swallows heavily.

  
“He’s Iris’s Alpha.” The detective looks back and forth between John’s eyes as the Alpha thinks over what Sherlock just told him. He isn’t really ready for more but Sherlock is almost impatient to get this out, to talk to someone about it. “I… I never _blamed_ Sebastian for what happened, I just tried to forget about it all these years. That is, until you put the missing puzzle piece right in front of my face.”

  
“Me?” John questions.

  
“I went to Uni thinking it would help me grow my knowledge, that I would meet people much smarter than the below average teachers of my youth. I didn’t fit in any better there than I did in high school but I tried to make a friend. Sebastian seemed to want to be that friend and I found him interesting because Alpha’s are rare and understudied.” Sherlock sighs a little and shifts around a bit. “Turns out, he wasn’t interested in me because I was smart or different, and even I found him boring quickly but he still hung around me. Until the day I went into heat for the first time in my dorm and he showed up. I didn’t understand why he was so insistent, breaking down the door to get to me. It didn’t make sense with his personality and the knowledge that it didn’t make sense has followed me for years. He went to the clinics all the time, he was used to mating in heat Omega’s by the dozens. Why would that change for _me_…?”

  
John stares in silence, he knows the puzzle piece now that he fed to Sherlock but he doesn’t give it a voice. He didn’t mean to deduce almost exactly what the detective is telling him, didn’t mean to dig into Sherlock’s past the way he did. He takes a deep breath, trying to calm the knot that’s formed in his throat.

  
“It was…because _I_ was still virginal.” John releases the breath and with it he tries his best not to shed a tear, his emotions torn down by the strange confession of Iris’s conception. Exactly what he was afraid of doing to Iris had happened to Sherlock over sixteen years ago and Sherlock had never known why until John had revealed it in the kitchen. He remembers the way Sherlock’s face had gone blank when he said: “They would just take what they wanted, what they thought was theirs.” And it clicks now that this was the very moment that he had changed everything Sherlock knew about what happened to him that day.

  
“I’m sorry…” John says knowing that his words mean nothing, hollow and empty because nobody can take back what happened in the past and knowing that he was the one to bring in all back breaks his heart. He didn’t mean to cause Sherlock any pain.

  
“Don’t be sorry, you helped me solve a mystery that had eluded me for _years_.” Sherlock says earnestly.

  
“That’s not why I’m sorry…I’m sorry that something so cruel happened to you and you didn’t even know why.” John says softly. He can’t even look at Sherlock as he says it, too afraid he’ll cry, just the thought of a young Sherlock scared and alone after it all happened has him choked up. They stay silent for a little while, but the story doesn’t seem to be over because Sherlock is speaking again soon enough.

  
“I knew within an hour that I was pregnant. I knew enough about Omega reproduction that when the heat ended so abruptly, there was no doubt as to why I was suddenly clear headed. I called Mycroft and he told me to pack everything and come home. I followed his instructions, probably the only time I’ve ever done so. I left behind experiments, half-finished papers, and anything that reminded me of Uni. He had a car there within an hour and I was on my way home.”

  
John gives a barely there laugh and a smile, thinking of Sherlock obeying his brother.

  
“Mycroft knew that he couldn’t protect me from the law that required Omegas to have a child before they turned 30. He convinced me to keep my pregnancy, even as I became unstable. I held it together until Iris was born and then I fled. Mother was left with Iris and I…well I didn’t come back until my brother begged me, showing me a picture of a small child who looked exactly like me.” Sherlock smiles brightly and nuzzles his nose into Iris’s hair. The young Omega had begun to lightly snore, his exhaustion taking over him completely.

  
“I had missed the first five years of his life. He didn’t even know who I was and yet when I went to meet him for the first time he knew from my smell alone that I was his dad. He hugged me and took me to see the project he was working on, blueprints for a building that was beyond his years. He was so smart. _So_…so smart…and I had _missed_ it.” Sherlock looks back up into John deep blue eyes. “I told myself I would _never_ miss another moment and I’ve kept that promise.”

  
John smiles again. He’s seen how in sync the two Omegas are, their parent and child but they work so well together that you would never know that they had ever been separated. Like a strange set of twins almost.

  
“Tonight had me terrified.” Sherlock continues on. “I thought I was going to lose my pup.” The detective’s lower lip trembles and John is awestruck by how young Sherlock suddenly looks. “But you _saved_ him. When I couldn’t, you were there for him. For _us_.” Sherlock brings his hand up and places it on John’s cheek, caressing the lightly tanned skin with his thumb.

  
“He’s only here right now because of you. I owe you everything. Without him…” Sherlock stops for a moment, swallowing hard. “I wouldn’t make it.” He smiles at the Alpha, which turns shy when John moves his head to plant a small kiss on Sherlock’s hand.

  
“Consider it my debt paid for _you_ saving _me_.” He whispers against that hand, smoothing his lips over the side of the detective’s thumb. He had told Sherlock how he cared for him, how he was important to him, but Sherlock meant more to him than what those simple words could convey. The Alpha always thought that he couldn’t keep any secrets from the clever Omega, the first day had been proof of that. But Sherlock doesn’t seem to understand why John says what he says, if the confusion on his face is genuine.

  
John clears his throat which makes Iris move around a bit at the sound, though he settles down again quickly. “Sherlock…I never told you what I was going through right before I met you. I always assumed you knew, since you always seem to know everything. But…I ah…I was in a dark spot before I met you, and just that morning I had considered…” He can’t look Sherlock in the eyes, the thought of the detective seeing him as less because of what he had contemplated doing. He had sat there in that hole of a flat and cleaned his gun, over and over, the thought of how easy it would be to put in his mouth and pull the trigger nagging him at the back of his mind.

  
The Alpha blows out a breath and licks his lips nervously. He never thought he would say anything and he feels like he wants chicken out right now. “I’m still here because of _you_. If I hadn’t met you that day and gotten taken on some _amazing_ case, chasing you through the city.” Sherlock smiles lightly at the fond memory. “Well, let’s just say that the bullet that I put into the cabbie that day, might have been mine instead.” His voice cracks a few times along the way but it’s out there now, Sherlock knows that they had almost never met.

  
The hand still on John’s face resumes caressing his cheek but he still won’t make eye contact, not until Sherlock tilts his head up, thumb on his chin.

  
“I _know_. I’ve _always_ known. But when you came to us you _changed_. You left behind that place so quickly I never thought to bring it up. It _didn’t_ matter anymore. Just the here and now of what was happening to us mattered. Dark thoughts of the past don’t define our happiness in the present. If you’re happy with us, here and now, then that’s all I need to know. The past is set and the future is always uncertain, but what I know now is that you like me…and I…_we_ like you too.” Sherlock smiles and John stares digesting everything the Omega just said.

  
John never imagined his life would turn out like this. When he went through medical school he dreamt he would help people, maybe eventually settle down with a pretty nurse and have a few pups. Then he went into the military, he figured he’d return eventually and find a nice woman and have a few pups. It was always the same typical dream, one that society told him he should want, settling down and making pups. It was ground into his head how important it was that he, as an Alpha, _needed_ to sire as many offspring as he could, to the point that he was considered exempt from any wrongdoing if children were produced.

  
But after he got shot he thought the worst. No one was going to love him after that. He wasn't the same man anymore, he may be an Alpha but he was damaged. Not only was his leg, which wasn't even hurt, not working but his head seemed to be broken as well. He craved the adventure and danger that the military had given him. Call it some weird Alpha instinct but he was always happiest when helping and defending others and now, he’s getting to do that all again. To chase bad guys, defend Sherlock and solve mysteries. He can’t imagine what would happen if this all ended, he wouldn’t be able to take it if something happened to the two Omegas.

  
John smiles and kisses Sherlock’s hand again. “It’s been a crazy couple of days. We should get some rest.” The detective nods, pulling his hand away to reach down and take John’s hand on his side. He links their fingers together and rests their connected hands on top of the sleeping Iris.

  
\-----

  
John wakes up several hours later, light shining in through the curtains illuminating the room. None of them have moved in their sleep, when he opens his eyes all he can see is Sherlock’s peaceful face in sleep. He takes a moment to see the detective at his calmest, his features relaxed and his mind at rest, it’s a strange surreal sight. One he likely won’t see again anytime soon if the smell of preheat in the room is anything to go by. It’s already affected him while he slept, his own pheromones heavy in the air in response and a very uncomfortable erection pushing into Iris’s back. ‘It’s only preheat’ he tries to tell himself but the scent is intoxicating, more so than any scent he’s ever smelled before. He struggles with himself, but he gently urges Sherlock to wake up, he needs the Omega to wake up safe, knowing that John is leaving the room but he’ll still be there guarding their territory.

  
“Sherlock. Hey.” He gently nudges the sleeping detective, trying not to disturb Iris too much, the longer the teen sleeps the better. Sherlock opens his eyes, but the light shining in makes him have to squint to see anything.

  
“John, what’s wrong? Is it Shen?” Sherlock tries to get up but then he stops, his hand flying down as he groans, a preheat cramp slicing pain through his stomach. “Oh…” Is all the Omega says, realization of what’s happening hitting him. He glances over at John and the Alpha just gives him a shrug.

  
“I just wanted you to know that I’m going to be in the flat, but I can’t stay here with you. It’s going to get worse and I’ll do my best, but I don’t actually know how I’m going to react.” He’s forcing himself to stay despite what he’ll act like when Sherlock goes into his full heat. It's going to be unbearable to be in the flat, but Shen is still out there and he needs to be here to protect them.

  
“You… you...” Sherlock looks pained but he also seems clear headed, which scares John because he’s not sure exactly what the detective is trying to say to him.

  
“Don’t worry, you can lock the door. If I really need, I can take care of myself and stay in my room to clear my head more.” He starts to get up but Sherlock reaches for him and makes him lay back down. John’s reluctant, the longer he stays the harder it will be to finally leave once he has to.

  
“You should leave...” Sherlock says slowly. It’s pains John to hear him say it, but he knows why the Omega would be reluctant to have him around, after what he just confessed last night. “But…I don’t want you t-to go.”

  
“Sherlock, I _can’t_ stay.” John urges. He knows the Omega likes him now, but it’s too soon in their budding relationship to even think about John staying.

  
“I know, but you _can’t_ be in the flat either. It will be too much… I have a solution, but I don’t think you’ll like it.” Sherlock says looking serious.

  
“What do you mean, a solution?” The Alpha questions.

  
“I want you to stay and protect us, but our instincts are going to drive us crazy and neither of us will be able to resist for long. But…if you go to the breeding clinic and come back, you won’t be tempted anymore.” Sherlock can see John open his mouth to protest but he cuts him off. “If you try to get off in the bathroom, I’m not going to stay here in this bed, I’ll seek you out. But go to the clinic and when you come back you won’t put off pheromones. You’ll be calm and clear headed. I’ll still be a mess but you will be here to protect us, no instinct in the way.”

  
John just stares at Sherlock, gobsmacked. “Wh-_what_?”

  
“You know fighting our instincts is going to be impossible. You barely fought yourself off in the alley and I…I lost myself completely. I’ve never lost myself in heat…so to lose out of heat to you…you affect me. I can’t lie. As soon as I go into heat I will want you, I already want you. It’s practically unbearable.” Iris is suddenly stirring between them, he tries to move but he’s packed so tightly between the two of them, their bodies having been naturally gravitating toward each other, squishing the young Omega from each side.

  
“What is…” Iris wiggles his hips and then stills completely, realizing what’s happening around him. The heightened scents combined with not one but two dicks poking him lets him realize he’s just woken up during a weird moment. “Uh…can I….um.” He feels extremely embarrassed suddenly, his body temperature skyrocketing as he feels his own arousal hit him hard. John’s Alpha scent is strong, it speaks straight to his inner Omega, washing over him and causing him to whine in the back of his throat. The feeling of being caged in, safe and comfortable, Alpha cock lined up along his back, his father’s smaller Omega dick pushing into his stomach. He’s overwhelmed fast, his sleepy brain too weak to fight off his new instincts. He doesn’t even realize he moves when he grinds backward, lets out a keening noise in response to the Alpha growl he gets. John grabbing his hips and stilling him, causing him to go completely boneless.

  
A flurry of movement and Sherlock is grabbing a hold of Iris’s head and forcing his eyes open. “Iris?!” His dad sounds alarmed.

  
“Sherlock what’s wrong?” John’s Alpha voice is commanding and it draws a moan out of Iris.

  
Sherlock stares into Iris’s eyes and watches as they slowly become clearer as the teen comes back to himself, the stale smell of his worried father, helping to bring his mind back. “I’m sorry, baby boy. I thought….you just reacted so strongly…I thought you might be getting your first heat.”

  
John dips down to Iris’s scent gland and gives a light sniff. He looks up to Sherlock whose face looks worried sick. He gently shakes his head. The detective let’s out a long shaky breath before nuzzling his face against Iris’s. “Sorry, you just scared me. Been doing that a lot, haven’t you pup.”

  
“_Please_ don’t call me that right now.” Iris’s face is embarrassingly red, the nickname making him want to whine again.

  
John gets up behind Iris, giving him room to finally move away, he pushes back and slides off the bed. Mortified that he’s hard in front of John, he quickly leaves the room and slams the door of the bathroom, barely making it inside before he’s jerking off.  
Meanwhile, John is looking now at Sherlock. “I get what you want me to do, I get that you want me to make myself safe for you, but I don’t think I can do that. I like you Sherlock, I want to start this crazy new adventure with you and to start off by…doing that with other people. I just…I don’t know. But I have to go. Lock the door. I’ll see you when this is all over.” He looks away from Sherlock and heads toward the now open door. He can hear Sherlock say a small ‘goodbye’ as he closes the door. He passes by the bathroom and hears Iris lightly moaning, to which he quickly walks away and up to his room.

  
He groans and falls into his own bed, his muscles ache from last night. He’s got bruises where the ropes held him to the chair, made worse by him breaking out of them in his rage. He’d be mad at himself for being so reckless if he hadn’t saved Iris because of it. He lightly massages over the tender flesh, he should check Iris over later for physical injury, a couple ice packs wouldn’t go amiss. He grabs a few pain tablets from his side dresser and swallows them dry, then lays out two more that he can give to the young Omega.

  
John changes into regular clothes and grabs the pills on his way downstairs. He fills a glass of water and when Iris exits the bathroom, having clearly taken a quick shower he hands them over.

  
“When you get a chance, let me check you over for injuries.” He holds up his own wrist as an example and Iris looks at it with pained eyes. He nods and shuffles away, going into the Omega’s bedroom. John takes the opportunity to clean up the flat a bit, getting water bottles from the pantry and leaving them by the door for Iris to take for Sherlock. He won’t need to eat since his digestive track shuts down during heat, but he will need fluids. John moves around the boxes of books, which will need to be taken back by the police. He knows that Iris will make a small nest in the living room while Sherlock is in heat. He prepares by clearing the room for him, the teen needs to stay calm and relaxed after everything that happened last night, so this bit of routine should be good for him.

  
Iris comes out of the bedroom covered in bedding, holding pillows and obviously ready to make his nest. He looks a little surprised but smiles at John appreciatively when he notices all the boxes of books have been moved for him. John leaves him to it, sitting in his chair and relaxing while he watches. Iris seems to go into serious mode while he sets up his sleep area. First, sweeping the whole floor and laying down a thick layers of pillows, all different shapes and sizes but he fits them perfectly together to create a flat surface that he then throws sheets over and then a super soft looking blanket. Iris inspects his work, fluffing and moving things to get them just the way he likes before he very unceremoniously flops down into the nest.

  
John barks out a laugh, but then stares as Iris starts to scent the nest, rubbing himself all over the soft surfaces. It’s only then that John realizes that Iris is in a slim pair of shorts and a tee-shirt, clearly his comfy house clothes, but the way he is wiggling against the fabric has John’s mouth suddenly dry. All the blankets and Iris himself smell of preheat from being in Sherlock’s room, even if it was just for a little while. All the moving around spreads the scent, coating Iris in a scent he can’t yet produce. When Iris finally stops, laying on his back his arms and legs comfortably stretched out over the nest, John gets up, intent on making some tea but then remembers he needs to get some ice for Iris.

  
“Iris.” He kneels down on the outskirts of the nest, knowing it’s impolite to touch it without Iris’s permission. A pleased and sleepy ‘hmmm’ is all he gets out of the teen causing him to smile fondly at the Omega. “Can I check you for injuries now, I’ll make some tea and you can lay with a few ice packs.”

  
“Sure.” The teen gets up, moving to the edge of the pile, he presents John with his wrists, knowing they actually do have dark bruises on them. He had noticed a few other smaller bruises on his body during the shower, but wrists were the worst of it. He explains this to John as he takes each wrist into his warm hands. Iris knows the Alpha is just being the super concerned doctor he always is, but the way he thoroughly checks over each of the Omega’s wrists, delicately tracing the bruising with light fingertips, has Iris holding his breath. He watches how John’s brow furrows when he comes across a particularly dark spot, a frown accompanying it before the scent of an angry Alpha is filling the room, causing Iris to bear his neck and whine.

  
John didn’t mean to do it, so lost in his anger over Iris being hurt he was causing the Omega distress with his scent. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. Let me go get those ice packs.” He lightly grabs Iris’s chin and tilts his head back down as he apologizes.

  
“Can you get a big one for my lower back, please?” His voice is so small, clearly still affected by the sudden pheromones.

  
“Of course. I’ll be right back.” John puts on the kettle and prepares a few ice packs, small ones for the wrists and ankles, as well as the large one Iris asked for. He returns and finds Iris face down in the nest, he places the big pack right on him, eliciting an immediate hiss as the cold hits the teen through his thin shirt. The others are each placed neatly as well before John turns back to making his tea. His Alpha is humming contently, taking care of the tiny Omega is pleasing his instincts more than he would want to admit.

  
“Keep those on for at least ten minutes, but no longer than twenty, got it?” John says bringing over his hot tea and sitting in his chair. Iris just mumbles something about the cold, but John figures he’s just talking about the ice. It isn’t until a few minutes later when he notices the Omega is shivering that he realizes Iris was telling him he was getting cold. The Alpha gets up quickly, the ice hasn’t had time to start working so he doesn’t want to pull it off but he needs to keep Iris’s body temp normal. He starts to walk toward the Omega’s bedroom for additional blankets but the smell of Sherlock’s full heat has him stopping in the kitchen, suddenly aware that he can’t go further if he wants to keep his head. He turns around quickly and heads instead for his own room. They don’t have extra blankets downstairs, but John has a thick super warm comforter on his own bed, it’s perfect.

  
When he lays it across the nest coving Iris in the thick fabric he gets a strange feeling in his gut. He can smell Sherlock’s heat and it has his head buzzing, mixing up in his Alpha head with his comforting feelings toward Iris. He swears it’s just because he wants Iris to be warm, but he finds himself suddenly crawling onto the nest, not touching anything other than his own comforter. He tucks the edges in around the teen, swaddling him in tight before straddling his tiny hips. He lays some of his weight down, draping himself over Iris’s back and snuggling into his own comforter, shifting his hips around to get comfortable.

  
Below him Iris is completely caged in, surrounded by John’s scent from the comforter and now blissfully held down by John’s weight. He’s blushing, blood pooling in his cheeks and he tries not to but when he feels the Alpha shift around he whines. He thinks back to this morning, waking up caged in between the two, it seems to be a running theme since he got kidnapped. He stays completely still, just letting John’s scent envelope him, calming and exciting him all at once.

  
Neither of them are sure how long they stay like that, John a solid weight and Iris a plaint ball of mush. But the Alpha must be have set a timer on his phone because a small beeping sound goes off and then the weight above him is shifting around, the comforter being tugged up and ice packed removed from his ankles, before being covered again. When the big ice pack from his back is removed he groans out in appreciation, he’s fully numb at this point and it’s so good to not feel the pain anymore. What he does suddenly feel however is his shirt being lifted so his lower back is exposed. He protests until he feels John move his hands over his lower back, running thumbs up either side of his spine. He lets out a strange little strangled sound, the warmth of those fingers along his numb back delightful.

  
“How’s your back, feel any better?” John’s voice has gone a bit husky.

  
A sort of unintelligible sound, half sigh half moan leaves Iris’s lips and it sends a shiver down the Alpha’s spine as he pulls his hands back down, massaging over the alabaster skin. Somewhere between the cuddling and the heat pheromones in the flat John is hard in his trousers as he sits right against Iris’s bottom, the comforter keeping him from really feeling anything. He digs his thumbs into the dimples on the Omega’s back and watches as Iris fists the sheet below him, grabbing at the covers and arching his back into John’s hands. The Alpha in John cuts lose a bit and he growls low in his chest as he grabs and presses down on the teens hips causing him to gasp out as his whole body shudders.

  
John isn’t sure why he’s teasing Iris, his brain is working so slow, he knows the heat pheromones aren’t from Iris but they smell like they would be, the twin scents of father and son confusing his inner Alpha. It’s heavy and thick in the air, each breath he takes is another hit of the pure scent that wafts around the closed door to the Omegas room. He tries to fight back against himself even as he watches his own hands massage Iris, the teen clearly already lost to the Alpha’s scent from the way he’s mewling and tensing his thighs. John pulls the comforter down further, exposing more of the teen, then leans over, caging Iris in once again his time without the comforter in the way. He’s gentle as he fits his cock right along the crevice of Iris’s pert ass, his arms coming up to wrap around his thin ribcage. He rumbles appreciatively in his chest when Iris presents his neck to him and he digs his nose in to smell the young Omega.

  
The scent is different from Sherlock, the smell of Iris being stunted has John’s head clearing, the specific aroma letting the Alpha know he can’t take the teen yet. He sniffs again and it’s helping, he feels with each new breath the fog of his brain lifting until he’s able to form a full thought. A shot of something runs down his spine, but it’s not arousal this time, it’s panic. He’s got sweet young Iris caged beneath him and the Omega is clearly out of it, letting John do whatever he wants. He feels sick to his stomach, Iris didn’t ask for any of this, it’s John’s own fault for thinking he could stay while Sherlock’s heat was full blown.

  
Suddenly, John’s phone is ringing and it’s the final jolt he needs, he quickly gets up, pulling the comforter back up and covering Iris fully. The teen whines at the loss of contact, but once John is away he knows the teens head will clear like his has and he’ll realize what just happened. The Alpha grabs up his shoes and coat, not bothering to put them on before he’s rushing down the stairs and out into the open air of London. He gulps down breathes, clearing his lungs of the heat scent he was just drowning in. His phone is still ringing in his pocket, he answers as he sits down, dropping his shoes beside him.

  
“Hello.” He says, not even bothering to look at who it is, still freaking out over what he was just doing.

  
“John Watson?” A kind of familiar voice says.

  
“Yes”

  
“This is Detective Inspector Dimmock.”

  
“Yes…right…I was just on my way to come give my statement.” John lies though it is the perfect excuse to get away from the flat. He looks around noticing that the police car that was supposed to be watching over the flat is gone.

  
“Good, I have news for you along those same lines. We found Shen.”

  
The Alpha perks up at the mentioned name, he doesn’t realize it but he’s growling a low threatening sound until Dimmock is speaking again.

  
“We found her and over a dozen of her gang dead this morning. Looks like someone else didn’t like the mess she was making.” John runs his hand over his face, relief that the Chinese gang lord is dead and can’t get to Sherlock or Iris any longer.

  
“Alright. Well, I’ll be there soon.”

  
“Bring along Sherlock and Iris, we need as many identifying eyes on the bodies as we can get.”

  
“Sorry….ah…Sherlock can’t come, he’s gone into heat…” John’s face goes a little red at the mention of heat, he can just imagine Sherlock just up above him wiggling around in the covers, then remembers how Iris had just done almost the same thing in the nest.

  
“Oh.”

  
“And Iris hasn’t gotten past the shock of last night, he’s still sleeping. I’d like to continue to let him rest. I had a clear view of her face, I’m more than sure I can identify the body.” He lies again, knowing full well that Iris has been surprisingly fine all morning, the young Omega seeming to almost forget about the whole ordeal.

  
“Well, see you soon.”

  
“Ta.” He hangs up and shoves the phone into his pocket. It’s cold out, but the cutting air feels good, grounding him in the present. He grabs his shoes, shoving his feet in each one and deciding on what he’s doing now. He had told the Inspector he was coming, so he would keep that promise, but afterward what would he do. He can’t go back to the flat, what he had just done to Iris was proof of that. John hears what Sherlock had been saying to him play again in his head. “Go to the breeding clinic and come back, you won’t be tempted.” He shakes his head getting up, signally for a taxi. He can’t think about that right now, he needs to just get away.

  
\-----

  
It’s Shen. The body is unmistakable, from her haircut to the black lotus tattoo on her foot. It gives the Alpha relief to know he doesn’t have to go back to the flat and protect anyone. Even if that’s still exactly what his instincts are telling him he should be doing. Going home to guard his territory and protect his mates.

  
Dimmock thanks him for his statements and coming down to look at the bodies. Asks him if they ever discovered which of the two dead men stole the jade pin that the gang had been looking for. John shrugs and tells him that it could have been either, but that when Sherlock’s heat is over in a day or so that he can ask the detective, maybe he figured it out and just didn’t tell anyone yet.

  
As he’s leaving he runs into Lestrade back from, well John’s not entirely sure where the other Alpha got off too but he smiles and goes over to him anyway. Soon as he gets near the other Alpha is covering up his nose and mouth.

  
“Uh…is it already that time again. My god it’s a strong one.”

  
“Ah….sorry, completely forgot.”

  
“No worries. I’m used to him, not particularly affected by it to be honest, you just caught me off guard.” He takes his hand off his nose and fans the air a bit but his statement seems to hold true when his face just stays neutral. “So what’s up?”

  
“Just giving my statement to Dimmock for the case we just wrapped up. Not really sure about what to do with myself now. Can’t really go back to the flat.” He looks around at the various officers hustling about, none of them concerned about the smell on him, their Beta noses not smelling the delicious scent on his clothes.

  
“Good luck there. Best to get a hotel for a few days, long as you can afford it.” Lestrade says casually. They’re not really friends, though John was considering maybe asking the other Alpha to go out to a pub sometime, he seems like he’s one of the better Alpha’s and if he’s friends with Sherlock he’s clearly someone John should want to hang around.

  
“Yeah.” John remembers at the mention of money that he has a check in his pocket signed by none other than Sebastian himself. He’s going to pay the other Alpha a visit, not sure why yet but something about it just seems like what he needs to do. “You know, I think I know what I’m going to do next. Thanks.” Lestrade looks up at him, but he doesn’t seem suspicious.

  
“Want to catch a game sometime, out at the pub. I’ve been in the military so long I could use someone to catch me up on all the players and what good games I missed.” He’s hoping to actually do exactly that one day, maybe make Lestrade his friend, but what he really wants is the Alpha to not realize that he’s about to take a trip to see Sebastian.

  
“Oh. Sure.” The Alpha lightens up, his face breaking out into the first smile John’s ever seen. I guess when you deal with car crashes, theft, and murder all the time, as well as chasing around Sherlock when he feels like helping it’s hard to find time to smile.

  
“Alright then. See you sometime.” He turns and leaves with his own smile, happy to have made a friend. But as he gets outside, his jaw is set as he heads off to the bank.

  
\-----

  
“John Watson to see Sebastian.” He says to the women at the desk. He’s surprisingly whisked in quickly, taking the same elevator as last time up to the Alpha’s office. He hasn’t had a lot of time to think about what he wants to say to Sebastian, but there’s a few questions that have been rattling around in his brain since he was last here. He knows it isn’t his place to expose Iris and he won’t, he can’t betray either of their trust in him. But Sebastian said that Sherlock had come to see him eight years ago and that makes John curious.

  
He walks into Sebastian’s office, the Alpha is sitting in his tight pressed suit, typing something on his computer as John walks in and shuts the door. His anger at what the Alpha had done so many years ago had been building but he was doing his best to keep his scent to himself. With his shoulders squared he walks to the desk, Sebastian looking up with that fake friendly smile until he gets hit in the face with the scent of Sherlock’s heat still coating John. The other Alpha pushes his chair away from the desk, his eyes going wide and his nostrils flaring. John’s sure it’s in arousal until Sebastian is literally backing away from him, his face in a strange sort of shock, mouth hanging open and fear in his eyes.

  
John’s anger subsides instantly with how Sebastian gets down on his knees and shows his neck, submitting even though John hadn’t been trying to get him to do that. He realizes that his scent wasn’t as hidden as he had wanted and even his face must have been a threatening sight as he stormed in.

  
“Sebastian?”

  
The Alpha on the ground looks at him, his eyes still speaking volumes to how intimidated he is, he’s started panting heavily, his fight or flight response clearly kicked in, but he’s frozen solid instead. “I won’t hurt you, I just want to talk…talk about what happened sixteen years ago, between you and Sherlock.”

  
Sebastian’s eyes turn to pure pain, his face grimacing before he hangs his head, his arms coming down to lay on the floor, the Alpha sinking in on himself, curling into a tight ball, the fresh pressed look of his suit now ruined. “H-his scent….” Sebastian starts to get out, his shoulders shaking as he starts to raise his head, still speaking toward the ground. “His scent was so much worse that day…so strong and I…I don’t know why I did it.” He shakes his head back and forth, a small sob leaving his lips. “I never meant to hurt him, I hung out with him and he was a weird little twit but I never wanted to hurt him, there was just something about him that made me still want to be near him. I protected him from the others, they would make fun of him but I always told them to calm down, that he was just unique. I even got into a few scraps for him, I wanted to protect him, I don’t even know why. I didn’t want to hurt him. Didn’t mean to hurt him.”

  
John’s inclined to believe the Alpha, he knows exactly what the Alpha had been struggling with, has been having the same issues with Iris. The want to be around and protect the virgin Omega a strong pull. But unlike eighteen year old Sebastian, John knows what it is that is drawing him in. Though knowing that the alluring scent of a virgin Omega is the cause of all the pain doesn’t give him any comfort. If he was that age again and presented with Iris, he too wouldn’t know why he was drawn to the other, would be just as confused and knowing hasn’t made his body and mind stop attempting to court and impress his quarry.

  
“What happened that day?” John prompts. Sherlock didn’t tell him anything, just that even without the knowledge of why the Alpha did it, that he hadn’t blamed Sebastian. John doesn’t really understand why he wouldn’t blame Sebastian, as if he feels he’s somehow still responsible and isn’t that exactly what Sherlock said to John this morning. How if John stayed that Sherlock himself wouldn’t be able to resist, that he would seek out the Alpha. But Sherlock hadn’t sought out the Alpha, he said that Sebastian was the insistent one. He needs to know everything, needs to know so he can protect Iris from himself.

  
“I was…in the dorms.” Sebastian sits up on his knees and wipes at his eyes. He must of at some point cried because his face and eyelashes are wet. “I was just headed back to my room, it was like any other day, boring classes and no fun. I was planning on going to the breeding clinics later, I usually went a few times a week, so I was just going to drop all my books back in my room. Sherlock’s room was just a few over from mine, the University originally wanted to segregate me away from the Omegas. They were worried that I wouldn’t be able to handle myself, but I had never shown myself to be untrustworthy while in high school and my old teachers vouched for me. I also made it known to the University that I used the clinics and could be trusted to not lose control, I had experience on my side.” The Alpha gives a small humorless smile and laugh. “Guess that didn’t do me much good when it came to Sherlock.” He swallows hard.

  
John reaches down and offers his hand, which Sebastian takes after a moments hesitation. He drags the other man up and pulls his chair over, letting the Alpha sit normally. John himself leans back against the desk, keeping his standing position, too upset to sit.

  
“I reached my door before I smelled his scent. It was like nothing I had ever smelled before, it…called out to me.” He looks at John, his eyes wide and pleading. “It was like a siren’s call, one second I was at my own door, putting down my bag to get my keys and the next thing I know, I was breaking the door down to Sherlock’s room.” Sebastian puts his hands together and leans them on the desk.

  
“What was Sherlock doing?” John asks.

  
“He was whining, yelling out for me. He kept calling me Alpha…didn’t say my name but I…I _liked_ it. The Omegas at the clinics do it all the time but it was the _way_ he yelled it out, begging me to break the door down and get to him that made me lose it.” He pulls his joined hands back and runs them over his face.

  
“I blacked out after I got in, the last thing I remember was throwing myself onto the bed and Sherlock’s face as he reached out to pull me against him.” The Alpha has a single tear flow down his face.

  
“The taste of blood in my mouth was what knocked me back to my senses I think. I remember looking down, I was panting and my vision was blurry, but I could see someone underneath me. The other person was gasping and bleeding, but I could tell we weren’t mated, but I’m not exactly sure how. I had clearly bitten them but I must have missed his scent gland, I don’t know if I purposely missed but we were still unbonded. I panicked, I had clearly hurt the other person and when I realized finally that it was Sherlock underneath me I ran. It hurt and went against all my instincts to yank my knot from him.” More tears flow from the Alpha. “He screamed a-and I just fled. I had forced myself on him, I was a terrible Alpha, all my teachers had vouched for me and now I had not only hurt someone but I was going to have to pay the price for it, when I myself thought I would never be capable of doing something so…_disgusting_.”

  
John’s heart aches, not only for the younger Sherlock but now for Sebastian. He had wanted to believe earlier that the Alpha had been a bad person but he was no different from himself. Just another person, a teenager who was just beginning his life. He wasn’t some monster out there who had gotten away with a crime, he wasn’t out continuing to hurt others either. He was just a teen who got into a bad situation because of his own biology.

  
“But Sherlock disappeared and no one had witnessed what happened. No one ever came to punish me and everyone at school just assumed that Sherlock left because he was bored of it all. But I knew it was because of what _I_ had done. I had hurt him and just like I had run away that day, he too fled back home.”

  
The silence stretches between as they both get lost in their own heads. Sebastian has finally stopped crying but when John looks down at him he can see how the conversation has worn him down. His face is pale and the area under his eyes is dark, bags starting to form from his exhaustion.

  
“He came to me, years later. Eight years ago to be exact.” John tries not to seem too interested, but it’s exactly what he wants to know about. Why Sherlock would ever see Sebastian again. “I was so surprised to see him, I must have looked like a total idiot. I barely recognized him. He looked good. When we were in Uni he had been so skinny and small, but now he seemed more…powerful. He was still thin but his presence, his aura that he exuded was strength and control as he walked straight for me. I actually thought he was going to hit me, I stood there and was just going to take it. Knew I deserved that and worse, but he just stopped in front of me.” The Alpha licks his lips, a nervous habit that John himself has.

  
“I told him I was sorry, that I knew that didn’t make it right, but that I had never wanted to hurt him.” Sebastian looks over at John, right into his eyes, his face a tight stressed out mess. “Then Sherlock did that thing, where he looks at you and just seems to know your whole life, as if he can just read everything you ever done right from your mind, like an open book laying on the counter.” He doesn’t stop staring at John, but his face shifts, to something like relief. “Then he just said. I know.” John gets a chill down his spine, Sherlock’s earlier words to himself echoed from the Alpha. “He didn’t say anything else to me. Just smiled and nodded at me. Like he forgave me for everything I had done to him. Like it was nothing, as if I had never hurt him.” He smiles a bright smile and John is taken aback at how much Sherlock’s words must have helped the Alpha to make him smile like that.

  
“I had been carrying that weight around with me for so long, I hadn’t been able to be around an in heat Omega since then, too afraid of myself to seek a mate, let alone step into a clinic. I still haven’t found someone but I was able to once again at least do my duty with the clinics, to help the Omegas who are forced by law to have kids. I think the whole thing helped me appreciate others, it really shaped who I was. But I hid it, had to be the big Alpha all the while caring for each Omegas who I help. I won’t pretend that I love them or anything, but I want to protect them all. Like by protecting them I could somehow make up for what I did to Sherlock.”

  
“You don’t act like you care, you act like a bull headed Alpha. But, you’re not. Are you? You don’t have to act the way you do, trying to be all big and tough.” John says, remembering back to when he first met Sebastian. It seems like weeks ago even though it’s been just a few days. The case and everything that happened blurring his days and making him lose track of time. The stress making it feel as if he’s lived longer than he has.

  
“Isn’t that what Alpha’s are supposed to be, cocky and arrogant? Uncaring of those around them.” Sebastian questions, as false huff of a laugh.

  
“No. We’re _protectors _and it’s those who think that being protectors makes them better than everyone else that soil the Alpha rank.” He says growling.

  
“I soiled the Alpha rank the day I hurt Sherlock.” Sebastian hangs his head.

  
“No. You were a victim of your own biology and of his. Do you know why he was so alluring to you, why you couldn’t control yourself?” John knows bringing up all this again so many years later is hurting the other Alpha, but maybe this can bring a bit of peace to him, just like how it helped Sherlock. He puts his hand on the Alpha’s shoulder as Sebastian shakes his head, then looks up at him his eyes big and full of curiosity.

  
“Sherlock was a virgin. You could smell that on him and when he went into his first heat. You happened to be there and your instinct told you to take him. It’s not right that our inner Alpha can shut down our brain like that, but it’s what happened. I don’t know if knowing that will help you, but I told Sherlock and he seemed really happy to know that it really _wasn’t_ your fault.”

  
“He was?”

  
“Yeah. He said he never blamed you. I think he knew you weren’t that kind of person, wanted to believe that you really were just a normal guy. I think we just figured out that he was right.” Sebastian smiles up at him and nods.

  
John makes sure Sebastian is okay before he leaves, checking that the Alpha’s mental state seems normal. Surprisingly, Sebastian seems happy at the end, shaking John’s hand with a smile on his face and thanking him for telling him the answer. John himself thought everything was going to go way different when he stepped into this office. Thought he might just end up with blood on his hands again. Turns out that he’s just like the other Alpha, though he doesn’t hide his emotions behind fake arrogance. He decides it’s time to be the protector he should be, he takes a walk, headed for the breeding clinic.

  
\-----

  
It takes four Omegas to finally exhaust him. He hadn’t spoken a word to any of them. He wasn’t there to give them pleasure, nor there to seek his own. No, the Alpha was there for one reason, to empty himself until he was safe to be in the flat around Sherlock and Iris. He had taken on the fourth just to guarantee it, had almost let himself keep that last one, hoping that maybe he could hold his instincts back. But when he thought back to the lovely scent of the flat he had twitched in his pants and then asked for a fourth.

  
Dr. Evans, the same doctor from before, was there to give him the different Omega scents that he could choose from. He could tell John was mentally working through something, had never had an Alpha go through the breeding process and look so miserable at the end. When John asked for the fourth the doctor had to finally ask him what was wrong. He wasn’t fully trained as a psychologist but he had to be conscious of his patients feelings here at the clinic. If the Alpha was working through some anger he could potentially hurt an Omega, which he wouldn’t forgive himself for allowing.

  
John assures him he’s fine. That he has an Omega he’s interested in whom he lives with, that is currently in heat. But they haven’t agreed to dating yet, let alone mating or sharing a heat. He even admits that if he doesn’t do this, he likely wouldn’t be able to control himself because they’re so compatible, and he’s unwilling to accidentally mate someone against their will. So, the Omega himself had suggested John do this and while he was physically able to perform, the agony of knowing his potential future mate was at home in need was killing him.

  
The doctor let him have a fourth Omega and John performed admirably, but when his usual second post knot orgasm had hit, he could feel how he had barely dribbled any cum into her. The Omega was still full enough for her to be carrying his pups, but it was such a strange unsatisfying feeling for his inner Alpha. He was drained and hurting all over by the time he’s unlocking the front door, night having fallen while he was in the clinic. He had gone really aggressive in the beginning, but even his Alpha strength has its limits and he trudges up the stairs, barely lifting his feet to make the next step.

  
The living room is warm, a small fire is built inside the fireplace illuminating Iris’s nest. John still feels shame in his face at what had transpired earlier, he was so determined to be a good Alpha, thought he could control himself. But, his instincts don’t care about who he is as a person. He feels terrible to think it, but he understands now why Sebastian had lost control, he was no better at controlling his instincts than the other Alpha. He had only just gotten away from the flat before he could cause damage, Sebastian hadn’t been so lucky, his instincts taking over before he even had a chance.

  
The nest moves as he closes the door and he’s greeted by the sleepy face of Iris looking at him. John is worn out, he looks back but hangs his head low in embarrassment and shame. He knows most Alphas would never let themselves looks so defeated, but he doesn’t feel like much of a real Alpha right now. His emotions get the better of him too often and he can’t believe he was so stupid to think he could protect the Omega from himself.

  
“Alpha.” Iris says, his clear voice ringing through the room.

  
John looks up suddenly confused. Iris has _never_ referred to him by his secondary gender, in fact the teen has never even said the word in front of him. It worries him, he’s heard the word screamed over and over tonight by Omegas in heat, but as he cautiously breathes in deeply only Sherlock’s heat can be smelled in the flat. If Iris isn’t in heat then, it doesn’t seem like the teen should be calling him that.

  
“Alpha.” Iris repeats, holding out his hand, beckoning John toward him. The Alpha moves slowly, walking across the room before placing his hand in the Omega’s. “Protect me tonight.” The teen says white tugging his hand gently, giving him permission to enter the nest.

  
John hesitates for a moment, but he’s safe to be around the teen, the alluring scent of Sherlock’s heat is having no effect on him. “I don’t need to protect you. Shen is dead, along with her gang. You’re safe, from them _and_…from me.”

  
Iris had begun to nod his head when John said he was safe from the gang but at the secondary confession his eye go dark and he shakes his head slowly. He tugs on John’s hand again and opens up the covers. “I’m _always_ safe with you, John.”

  
John sighs, knowing he can’t resist the Omega, both of them have his heart now and if Iris had been mad or upset with what happened earlier, he wouldn’t be offering to lay with John now. The Alpha shrugs off his day clothes, throwing them into a pile before climbing under the covers, laying facing toward the teen.

  
He expects that Iris will want to cuddle but he doesn’t expect the Omega to fit his whole front against his, sliding his head just below John’s chin against his bare chest, an exact copy of how he had slept against his father the night before. John sighs this time a happy little burst of air and wraps his arms around the teen, tugging him close and putting a small kiss to the top of his head, his nose being tickled by dark curls. The little hum he gets from Iris at the moment of affection makes his heart swell, the weight of the day bleeding out of him as the little Omega squeezes him tight.

  
Iris could tell from the moment he saw John that the Alpha wasn’t himself. But when his head had dipped, upset at what had transpired earlier, Iris knew he needed to put John back together. He could never begin to say he understood how hard it was for John to leave them, to resist his instincts which had taken over his rational brain. The instincts which separated Alphas and Omega from Betas. Forces them to be treated differently, both Alpha and Omega blamed when instincts take over, the Omega begging and Alpha giving. Movies tried to play this instinct off as less carnal than it truly is, showing the Alpha in love with the Omega and that that was why he would inevitably pursue the Omega to great lengths, not because their instincts are out of control but because they are ‘soulmates’.

  
Sherlock and Iris have both been under the spell of John’s scent just as he has been under theirs. This morning had been just another moment of instinct taking over and once Iris’s head had cleared he had laid there in the scent of John and scolded himself. He knew John would feel even worse about the encounter, he was supposed to be the adult and thus felt responsible for everything that happens between them. As if Iris himself wasn’t having a hard time around the Alpha. When he had laid down in the nest, John laughing at his antics, he hadn’t needed to scent the nest yet, but John was watching him and he had wiggled and arched his back, showing off even though he knew he shouldn’t. Something in his head seemed to tell him to do it and he had listened, enticed the Alpha with his body. So, Iris couldn’t be mad that John had responded, especially with the temptation of heat fresh in the air.

  
Iris knows he’s being a little underhanded calling John by his status, but he’s hoping it will help by appealing to his other side. John had stopped himself earlier and that was all that mattered. Even if he had gone further Iris isn’t sure he could be upset, he _wants_ the Alpha even though his body can’t actually take John yet. There is an ache he can feel deep inside when John touches him, it calls to him, makes him lose all sense of rational thought.

  
“I’m sorry about earlier, I shouldn’t have to protect you from myself.” John says, his tone upset. “I should have left _sooner_, there’s no excuse for what I was doing to you, it was inappropriate and I hope you can forgive me.” He runs his hand through Iris’s curls and the Omega preens under the affection.

  
“John, you shouldn’t think like that, you _know_ we’re ruled by our instincts and you overcame yours. You’re _so_ good to us.” He nuzzles his face into John’s chest. “And I’m not blameless. Dad’s heat always makes me feel strange, it’s harder to think. I can hear my Omega side more than before, it makes me want to do things…” Iris had always been susceptible to his father’s heats, the scent always making his own body buzz. It was almost like how he sometimes gets sympathetic pains when his dad is hurt, except that instead of pain his body smells the heat and tells him he should be experiencing the same thing. Floods his body with want and since he had a nest to himself each time he had always taken advantage, skipping school and staying home to indulge. With the scent of John an Alpha in his nest after what had happened he had indulged and with the same Alpha back in his area he’s having trouble controlling the want. Lucky for him that John is in control of himself.

  
Alpha and Omega lay like that for some time, each thinking their own thoughts, Iris knows he can’t produce the soothing scent that a fully presented Omega can, but he hopes his presence is enough for John.

  
“Describe it?” John says lightly

  
Iris tilts his head back, looking up at John, not sure what he means. The Alpha’s features change as the fire flickers and glows, casting strange shadows on John’s face. But his eyes are kind and curious.

  
“Your symptoms when your dad is in heat.” John clarifies.

  
“When I was younger, maybe around ten I would make a nest out here and I would feel like I had a fever. My head would be fuzzy and my body too warm, but that was it. I tried going to school during that time but my teachers always sent me home presumably sick. Happened every other month with dad’s heat and eventually we saw the pattern and I just stayed home. A few years ago it changed, maybe when I was twelve or so.” Iris shifts around, he feels a little strange talking about this, has always thought it was super weird that he had this kind of reaction.

  
“I…I got more particular about how I made my nest, I took more effort to make it comfortable, to make it perfect. I guess I should have seen that I was an Omega from that alone, but I just thought I was maturing, caring more for my own things. But then the feelings came, I had just started to learn my body and when dad went into heat my brain was still fuzzy and my body was still warm but that wasn’t the only thing…” He feels himself blushing, it’s so embarrassing to be talking about this. “I thought it was really weird so I never talked to anyone about it, I mean dad’s an Omega and I didn’t know what I was but that doesn’t matter, his scent shouldn’t affect me no matter what I am.” The teen is babbling at this point, wanting to speak in circles instead of getting to the point, but John is patient with him as he keeps going. “I would get… urges, _but it wasn’t like I e-enjoyed his scent or something,_ I just would feel…” Why can’t he just come out and say it, he was literally getting straddled by John earlier and now he’s stammering like a preteen who’s just had his first kiss.

  
“It’s a false heat.” John says.

  
“A what?”

  
“A false heat. You smell exactly like your dad and it’s confusing your body, making it think it’s also in heat.”

  
“Do you know that from all your weird doctor knowledge?” Iris questions him.

  
John ends up chuckling, his chest rumbling deeply in Iris’s ear. “Yes, all my weird doctor knowledge. False heats can happen for a bunch of strange reasons, since yours seems to line up with your dad’s heat it must be a scent based trigger. But other Omegas can sometimes go into a false heat because of how safe they feel _or_ the exact opposite, if they feel threatened. For those that feel threatened their body puts off a heat scent and an Alpha should come running to protect them. At least, when there were more Alpha’s one might have, then the Alpha would hopefully defend the Omega from whatever was happening. It’s not a guarantee, the Alpha could easily make the situation worse, but that’s biology for you.”

  
“But I’m a stunted Omega, why would I get a false heat when I don’t even get real ones yet?”

  
“I don’t know. You don’t smell like heat, but you said you can feel it?”

  
“Yeah…in my lower back. It’s the real reason why I wanted the ice pack…” Iris looks down, a little embarrassed to have to admit that he lied that it was because of when he was kidnapped. “because I can feel arousal in my back and I _can’t_ do _anything_ about it. It drives me insane and then you were rubbing it and I just…” He moves suddenly away from John, putting distance between them, the Alpha loosening his arms letting Iris slide away before he turns to face away. “I’m sorry John. I didn’t _mean_ to tempt you, I _really_ like you and it just felt_ so_ good.”

  
John shuffles over in the nest and lightly grabs Iris, pulling him back into his chest. The teen curls more into himself a sob leaving his chest. “Hey, hey, hey. No, no crying. Iris. Pup, _please_ don’t cry.” John wraps his arms tight around the Omega, pulling him in, feeling him tremble. He releases his scent a bit, hoping it will calm the teen.

  
“_Why?_ Why am I l-like this…” Iris sniffs, tears streaming down his face. “Why do I want you so badly, why do I want you to _touch me_ b-but also want you to be with dad. H-he likes you _so_ much…and you _should_ be with him. B-but if you’re together, then I can’t be with dad…But _why_ does that hurt me! I shouldn’t want _any_ of it, I shouldn’t _want_ to be with dad, I shouldn’t be pining after an Alpha who’s so much older than I am. I should be studying for the stupid job I want and settling with some _Beta_ who’s _my_ age.” Iris’s voice is strained, he’s crying but at the same time he’s angry, all at once spitting out words like venom and whispering others like prayer. He feels so torn in two directions, his body and mind wanting the two people he shouldn’t need.

  
“Iris. I’m so sorry. I….I didn’t know you were feeling this way.” John feels overwhelmed with Iris’s confession. He knew the teen was tempted by his scent but that wasn’t supposed to really _mean_ anything. Omegas are supposed to like the scent of Alphas and John didn’t disapprove of the strange relationship he had with his dad, but he also didn’t think about how any of this had been affecting Iris. The teen was right about everything he said. “It’s okay pup.” He pets Iris’s hair again, placing another kiss on his head, this time to the back.

  
John tries to think about it, really see through Iris’s eyes how he has flipped the young Omega’s life upside down. He came in when the two had already begun their strange affair, placed himself somehow right in the middle between them. Iris clearly likes him, but at the same time he still craves the relationship with his dad and John was jeopardizing that. 'If he did choose Sherlock as his mate in the future, would he let Sherlock and Iris still be intimate?' He hadn’t really thought about it. He had barely entertained the idea of him and Sherlock being together, let alone what would happen to Iris if they did. The teen must be feeling abandoned, his father running off with another man who, Iris has basically just confessed to also liking more than he should.

  
“I’m not taking your dad from you. I would _never_ do that. He’s your dad. I know you both might consider yourselves…_more_ than that and I didn’t think about it.” He tries to turn Iris’s head, putting his hand under his chin, but the Omega jerks his head away. “Pup. Please. Please look at me.” John waits a few moments and after breathing out a few long breaths Iris finally turns around, but he keeps his hands drawn up against his chest defensively. John takes Iris’s face into his hands, stroking along his high cheekbones, wiping away the tears.

  
“You are the_ most_ important thing in the world to your dad. I could _never_ take him away from you. I’m sorry that I made you feel like you were losing him. I would never let that happen. You are both really important to me, I like both of you _so_ much, I feel as if I’ve known you both for longer than just these few weeks. But at the same time…I know very little about both of you.” He smiles as Iris’s blushing face, his tears have finally slowed and John realizes how close they are. John knows the Omega is in a false heat right now, so when the teen looks down at his lips and back up he can barely blame him but Iris looks into his eyes a moment later refocused.

  
“Please, Iris. Talk to me more, tell me more about everything that’s bothering you. I’m not here to steal your dad and leave you, I’m here for both of you and that means being honest with each other. Can we start to be more honest with each other? Like how your dad and I are trying to be now, telling each other when something is wrong.” John pleads.

  
Iris looks back down again and nods his head. He’s staring again, this time licking over his own lips, pink tongue darting out to put a shine on his cupid’s bow. “Can we start being honest in the morning? I don’t want to be honest right now, I…I just want to sleep.” Iris is falling harder for John with each word the Alpha says. He’s focusing more on Iris’s relationship with his father than on the teen's confession and the gentle way he assures him that he’s not just here for Sherlock has Iris’s heart blooming with warmth.

  
“Alright. That’s fine.” John says tenderly, rubbing his fingers a final time over Iris’s face. “Do you still want me to stay with you tonight?”

  
Iris nods his head and John nods his own in return. Then with a small smile turns onto his back pulling Iris with him, letting the Omega rest on his shoulder, the rest of his long limbs curled into the Alpha’s side. Iris can feel the false heat in his belly but he ignores it best he can, content to be snuggled against John, strangely soothed by his scent instead of spurred on by it, perhaps because instead of blinding arousal it only smells of comfort and home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, you all thought this was going to end with heat sex, guess again! We still have yet to meet the mysterious Moriarty and discover his plans for the Alpha and Omegas.
> 
> As always, please let me know what you think by adding a comment and I will do my best to get back to everyone.


	6. Conflict

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything seemed to be going so well...how did we fall so far.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo everyone. I want to start off by thanking everyone for their patience for the chapter taking so long. I don't want to get into too many details but holidays are a big sore spot for me. So most of December and the beginning of January kind of slid by as I tried my best to smile and laugh at all the family gatherings and my work only gives Christmas day off, so I had to work new years day. Plus my car broke down, fun fun all around. But that doesn't mean I haven't been working on the story, I refuse give up ever, I have too many other stories that need to be written and I'm not allowed to start them until this one is complete!
> 
> I think the other reason this chapter has taken so long is that I'm unhappy with it because the conversations between the characters include a lot of conflict and I am someone who avoids conflict and to write it feels difficult. I also feel like I never have the characters say or do enough, like I want them to say too many different explanations and add too much detail. Then I try to dial myself back and it feels so stilted sometimes. I'll continue to work toward improving. Thank you all for continuing to follow along. <3

John is a little confused when he wakes up to movement, he had been sleeping so peacefully, wrapped up warm and snuggled into the blankets. He blinks open his eyes, expecting light to be filtering in through the windows but it’s still dark. The fire has burned down to a few barely glowing coals, heat and light no longer illuminating the room. Yet it’s hot, so unbearably hot and the movement that woke him hasn’t stopped. He blinks a few more times and tries to get up, but something is on top of him.

  
“Iris?” The Alpha questions to the weight on top of him. He doesn’t get a response, instead only hearing panting and then he feels what the movement is, suddenly as the body on top of his grinds into his pelvis. John grabs the tiny Omega, stilling his hips as he tries to buck forward again, a whine leaving his mouth when he finds that the Alpha is too strong. “Iris, what’re you doing?” John’s sure that the teen has lost himself in the false heat again, it seems like anytime Iris wakes up he’s lost to it, like his body doesn’t even give him the chance to fight it off. His sleepy brain already shut down, too susceptible to the pheromones.

  
“Alpha. _Please_.” Iris says, but it’s not the supporting sober headed Iris of a few hours before. The Iris that comes home from college talking about his latest engineering project while he starts to fix dinner. No, this is an Omega’s voice, needy and pleading for its mate, lost to the instincts that define their genders.

  
“Oh no.” He says to the air. John has wrestled with himself for weeks about what he would do in this exact situation. Asking himself over and over how he would react if he found himself with an in heat Iris in his arms. Would he be able to overcome the temptation, would he be able to push the Omega away or would he take everything he could, forsake everything he morally stood for, just to get at the temptation that the virgin held between his legs. The indescribable pleasure that a virgin's body would pull out of his knot, the tightness that has been said to ruin an Alpha's want for a bond mate, doomed to seek a rare fruit forever, chasing something so seldom found.

  
But as he lets Iris pry his hands away from his hips he knows that that situation in his head isn’t what's happening now. Iris isn't in his first virgin heat, he's stuck in a false heat and John isn’t some wild Alpha looking for the most sought after of pleasures. He's safe. The scorching fire of arousal is nowhere to be seen, his fire much like the one in the fireplace is fizzled out, for now.

  
But as the Omega starts to thrust his clothed cock against his stomach, John worries that this is so much worse. He wants Iris like this, wants the little Omega wiggling around in his grasp, being pleased by him. He feels the urge to turn on a light to watch and memorize every detail as he pleasures the teen, Iris himself wonton and lost but John clear headed. The rush he gets from the idea is strange, it makes him feel powerful but not in the bad way that he's always associated with Alpha power. But powerful in the way that he would be trusted to give pleasure and protect while taking nothing for himself in return but the knowledge of how wonderful he's been to his mate.

  
His mind was always blurred while he took the Omegas at the clinic and any time before the scent of heat doing its job to make his brain shut down, but now he's perfectly fine, like any other day and it makes him want to touch, not compelled by his instincts but just because he wants to. He has wanted to touch Iris and Sherlock since he got here, to have them be his and he would normally blame in on their scents but as Iris grinds uncoordinated and stilted into John stomach he realizes that it isn't just the scent. He already knew with Sherlock that it was his brilliant mind that made him like the older Omega. But now he can see that Iris's equally gifted mind also draws him in. Similar…and yet…entirely different than his father, he's interesting and surprising. John can see himself taking care of Iris the same way as he wants to take care of Sherlock. To provide food and protection, to nurture their needs and give everything to them they would ever want because doing so would make his heart soar and give him his purpose back. The purpose that he has been told was archaic but he’s truly wanted forever.

  
To provide, help, and protect.

  
As an Army doctor he got to do that, as a husband any normal person he would maybe get half of it, but as a mate too these two, he feels like he would get the excitement of protecting like the military and the helping hand of being a doctor. He could help them in their most vulnerable moments, just like now when Iris is lost, his motions conveying how much he wants to get off but his inexperience showing that he has no idea how to achieve that in his false heat.

  
“You’re going to be so embarrassed when you wake up.” He whispers to Iris, knowing that the Omega can’t understand him in his current state. The baby Omega continuing to wiggle around, ignorant to John’s words.

  
John sighs deeply, knowing full well he shouldn’t touch Iris, even if the teen admitted how much he wanted John to touch him. But he’s alright now, he won’t lose control so he’s going to help in a roundabout way. He grabs Iris’s hips again gripping them tight, fingers wrapped around his back just above the loose-fitting shorts. He stills him for a moment before he tugs the Omega fully against him, forcing the teen to lay down on him. The teen letting out a long breathy sigh. He buries his head in the Omega’s neck and Iris follows along, nosing along John’s jawline before shoving his face as close as he can get to the scent of Alpha.

  
John starts a slow tempo, pulling Iris’s hips up and down, letting him slide in smooth fluid motions across his abs. He causes the Omega to shiver in his grasp, a sharp intake of breath on the first pass before a pleasured moan falls from those same lips, straight into his ear. It’s absolutely sinful the sounds that fall from that cupid’s bow, dripping like sweet honey, as the teen grinds on him. John continues to guide Iris’s hips, strong grip pushing and pulling, directing the teen to take pleasure for himself. The Alpha knows that he can’t actually touch Iris or he would be taking advantage of the situation and breaking Iris's trust, but showing the teen how to use his body to masturbate is morally grey. Hopefully Iris will forgive him, forgive his Alpha who's spurring him to help, wanting to be what gives the Omega pleasure, even if he gets none in return.

  
The shorts Iris had been wearing are looser now than they were before, sliding down more on each stroke until John feels the first drop of precum on his stomach. It gets smeared a moment later on the next stroke, dampening the fabric. John can smell the arousal, it smells different than normal, where Iris usually smells exactly like Sherlock he now has a light scent of flowers mixed in. It's nice but a little concerning, it shows how Iris is finally maturing, his Omega coming out, though if it’s only during arousal he’s still far from finally presenting.

  
When the swollen head of Iris's cock runs over his abs John’s Alpha wants to reach out to touch it. Instead he slides his hands down to slip off the tiny shorts to free the teen’s cock, letting him buck and grind into him, but caging his legs together with the fabric. He's leaking a steady stream of precum which coats his cock and John’s stomach, allowing it to slip and slide deliciously. Iris is completely lost, but John is watching over him, keeping his hands steady on his back, not letting himself touch. He won't soon forget the feel of Iris's cock sliding along his body, won't forget the little pants and moans the teen lets out, the feel of hands gripping him as the Omega takes his pleasure. John can tell when Iris is getting close, his little whispers of Alpha in his ear, the way his movements are harsher. In return John grips tighter, rougher, reaching up and grabbing the teens curls in his hand, tugging on them.

  
John shouldn't, knows he just put a temporary claim on Sherlock, but he moves Iris's head, exposing his scent gland. The plaint teen goes willingly, allowing himself to be moved even as his hips continue. John kisses his shoulder, works his way up slowly, then latches his lips around the gland. It tastes different than Sherlock, the light scent of flowers more pronounced now. He sucks harshly and the Omega keens, cock throbbing as he shoots his cum across the Alpha's chest. Iris is going to have a matching mark to Sherlock’s tomorrow. John is entirely screwed. Even if the marks are temporary, he’s still marking multiple Omegas and as much as it makes his Alpha howl in satisfaction, if anyone sees he’ll be looked down upon.

  
Iris goes boneless, his orgasm having ripped the energy right out of him. It isn't until he's finished panting and moves around that he finally speaks.

  
“John?” he can smell it all, the Alpha below him, the sweat and the cum. Can feel the sticky slowly drying mess between them.

  
“You're fine. I'm right here. I'll get you cleaned up, alright?” John kisses his cheek and the warmth he feels against his lips tell him that Iris is blushing. He knows the Omega is embarrassed, but he forces Iris to lay to side before getting up and picking the teen up bridal style. Most Omegas have trouble walking after orgasms, so he sets him on the toilet in the bathroom and draws a bath. He cleans the cum off his own chest and some off Iris, the teen has his head down, won’t look at John, completely submissive.

  
When the bath is full he helps Iris in and lets him be, Omegas get sensitive and usually want cuddles after, but he needs to clean up the nest first. They didn’t actually get much cum on it, so he simply cleans the one patch and situates all the blankets and pillows back into their proper places. When he’s satisfied he goes to his room for some clothes, he can’t get Iris's clothes because Sherlock is locked in their room. He pulls a soft striped long sleeve and a pair of boxers, puts them in the nest and coaxes the fire back. When he gets back to the bathroom, Iris has washed himself and is draining the tub. He helps him out and dries him off, fluffing his hair with the towel. Iris acts as if he’s been bad, his whole being just seems defeated, as if his body and instincts betraying him makes him a bad person. John leads him hand in hand back to the nest and dresses Iris in his clothes. The Omega looks at the shirt funny, sniffing it and then wrapping his arms around himself awkwardly.

  
“Come on, back to bed.” John says, lifting up Iris and placing him down right in the middle. He forces the teen onto his side and wraps himself around his back, spooning him, protecting him.

  
“It’s not morning, so you don’t have to be honest with me yet. I would like to tell you what happened, just so you know it wasn’t your fault. I know it’s confusing, I've been dealing with it myself. Just know I don’t think any less of you.” John can feel Iris's whole body relax and soon enough the teen’s breathing slows as he slips back into sleep, exhaustion over taking him.

  
\-----

  
They sleep well into the morning, not bothering to stir even when the sun fills the room, too comfortable laying in the nest together, nestled in a tangle of limbs. Neither of them have anything to do today, John will be getting paid for the Omegas from yesterday, Iris can't go anywhere until he's free from the false heat, and Sherlock won't be out of heat until either really late tonight or tomorrow morning. It's a perfect lazy day, right from the start. John feels when Iris moves to go to the bathroom and he gets up to start on some tea and breakfast. Simple eggs with toast, extra jam on his own, he hums a little tune while he makes it all. He knows there are going to be a lot of tough conversations coming up, but for now he’s just content to present a meal to Iris when he finally gets the courage to come back out of the bathroom.

  
Iris still won’t look at him, his head down in submission but before he sits to eat he moves his chair closer to John’s. He eats politely but he’s tense, his shoulders slumped forward, legs squished together, and his free arm is wrapped around his middle, making himself smaller. He’s still wearing John’s clothes, the shirt hanging off his smaller frame, making him seem tinier than usual. Iris’s eyes look at the food but he’s eating in such a way that tells John that he’s not paying attention to his food, he’s lost in his own head, overthinking everything that’s happened over the last few weeks.

  
John has been doing a lot of his own thinking, he had trouble falling asleep last night and used the time to _really_ think about what he wanted. His conclusion seemed almost too simple. He wants them both. They already have each other and he doesn’t want to change that, just wants to add himself to it.

  
When Iris stops eating altogether, staring at his half empty plate, fork startling him as he drops it, causing a loud clattering. John grabs him up and lays them both back into the nest, breakfast forgotten on the table. The Omega doesn’t protest, letting John pick him up and carry him around without a word, showing his full submission and trust in John.

  
When they get all situated under the covers, they’re facing each other, John has one of Iris’s hands in his, his head resting on his other arm. Iris’s face is in full view, he didn’t want to let the teen hide away while they talked, wanting them both to be able to see the other’s face at all times. The Omega already has a blush across his face and is staring at the Alpha’s lips but that seems to be more to do with not wanting to meet his eyes than anything else. The false heat isn’t here right now, just the two of them and a lazy sunny morning.

  
“Good morning.” John says, not sure how to start the conversation they need to have. He had wanted to wait for Sherlock, but he could always just repeat himself later.

  
“Mor…” Iris swallows thickly. “Morning.”

  
“You alright?”

  
Iris nods. His eyes finally flick up to meet John’s but he’s quickly looking down again. “Nervous, I guess.”

  
“Want me to start?” The Alpha asks. He figures if he goes first then Iris will be calmer and more willing to talk. Another nod from the teen and John nods back this time. He’s not sure where he should start but the beginning sounds good.

  
“I didn’t know when I came here that I was going to meet two people who would change my life. I was just hoping for a cheap flat so I didn’t have to leave London.” He smiles as he looks over Iris’s face. The Omega has decided that closing his eyes was the best option for listening.

  
“It worried me that your scents were so compatible with mine, but I figured a flat is a flat and I would just avoid you both. But your dad…well he had different ideas about that and took me on the most exciting adventure I’ve ever been on. Years of combat couldn’t compare and I became hooked instantly. I think it surprised all of us just how quickly we got on, but in the beginning he warned me off, said he was flattered but that he was married to the work and that you were more important than anything.”

  
Iris opens his eyes and looks up confused. “He had to warn you off?”

  
“Yeah.”

  
“Normally his personality is enough to do that.” Iris dead pans.

  
John isn’t proud of the terrible laughing snort that comes out at Iris’s joke. “Hey, your dad is _unique_. I know others find his cold nature and strange mind to be off putting, but _I_ can see past it. His cold nature is just a front, you yourself know that he cares and loves deeply, only puts on a show because it helps him from being hurt. And his _mind_…well his mind is something to behold. Every time we’re on a case together, I can’t help but hang on his every word. I’ve never met someone like him before, like either of you and it has had my head spinning since I got here.” He runs his thumb across Iris’s hand.

“He warned me off in the beginning yes, but something has changed with us now. We’ve both admitted to liking each other, enough that I want to try courting him and…I think he’s going to let me.” John smiles and Iris gives a small smile back.

  
“I told him he should let you…” Iris whispers and it makes John’s smile even bigger.

  
“I’m glad you say that, but truly I forgot to do something very important before I asked him.” John brings his hand up to Iris’s face and rubs across it like Sherlock was doing to him yesterday. “I didn’t ask _you_ for permission. The two of you have history a together and even if you didn’t I _should_ have asked you first because he’s your dad and I’m the new person coming into your family. You _both_ matter to me and I don’t know why I didn’t think to include you. What the two of you have is…different but I don’t think it’s bad. It’s **not** bad. I won’t stop the two of you if you want to continue. In fact, maybe one day when you’re older, if I’m still here with both of you and you still want to be with _me_ as well, we could try it. I won’t lie and say I’m not attracted to you, I’ve been trying to lie to myself and you see where it’s gotten us. Maybe if I just admitted it sooner we would have actually been better off.”

  
“John, it’s fine.”

  
“Pretty sure that’s my usual line.” He huffs out a small laugh which Iris returns, smiling.

  
I’m ready to be honest with you now...”

  
“Yeah?”

  
“Yeah. I…never expected any of this to happen. I was honestly just going through life the way it seemed I should. Go to school, get a good education, and then go work. One day I was going to be expected to produce a child against my will and I just needed to hope that I didn’t lose my job during that time and that once the child was here that I didn’t mess the poor thing up. If I was lucky I would have a nice Beta to settle down with and life would be happy.” Iris rolls his eyes. “Then…all the sudden you were here and you just slid yourself so strangely into the life we have here. I didn’t really know what to do at first, I thought a normal level of interaction would be fine but I found myself wanting to please you, wanting to be close to you and at the same time still wanting what my father and I have just as much, if not even more and even stronger than before. I thought it was just because I was maturing but it’s almost like you being here spurred me on, made me jealous of my father’s attention toward you and yet…I_ wanted_ him to pay attention to you too. I wanted him to see that you were good for him because I could see it. I _can_ see it.” Iris grabs the hand away from his face and squeezes it.

  
“I want to stay with dad, if that’s okay with you but I want you to court him as well. I thought I wanted the life path that had been laid out for me. The one that I was supposed to take, the one my father didn’t get to take because of me…but I see now that he wouldn’t have continued down the path he was on regardless. He would have quit university on his own and found his detective work either way. I’m still going to finish my degree but I’m not so sure it’s what I want anymore.” Iris looks a little shy as he blushes.

  
“Do you know what you want now?”

  
“I…I’m not sure yet, but…I _really_ like you and I want to work and help my dad. He never discouraged me from becoming a detective but I could tell it wasn’t what he wanted for me. I’ve been trying to be less like him my whole life and yet…the universe just keeps reminding me that I almost am him. Almost a complete copy and I don’t really want to fight it anymore. I don’t want to fight against the things_ I_ want, just because I know others want what they think is _better_ for me. I want _you_ and I know that I am too young, but I don’t want to lie anymore and say I don’t want you, because lying to myself is hurting me and is just me once again copying my dad. He’s been doing the same thing, lying to you and himself that he feels nothing, that he’s better off alone and yet every moment he does it, he’s just hurting himself. I don’t want to hurt myself like that…I would rather tell you and have you reject me, instead of pine after something I think maybe I could one day have. If you and dad get together, I’ll be happy with that. You know I like you now and that’s all it can be for now, but that’s okay.” He smiles. “That’s okay for now.”

  
John smiles brightly. He pulls Iris in for a hug, wrapping the little Omega in his arms. “I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you sooner, I’m sorry we all had to go through this the way it happened. But I want us to keep everything open like this. I want to take care of the two of you and I want you both to be happy, no matter what that means. If you complete school and decide that you want to be a detective like your dad, then that’s fine. If you find a nice Beta and you no longer want to be with us, that’s okay too. I just want you to be happy, however I can do that.” Iris hugs John back, taking in the warm calming scent of the Alpha. The whole nest smells of them and he can’t help but want to smell like this forever.

  
They lay there, wrapped together in their new shared understanding of each other. It’s not perfect, they haven’t talked about everything they will need too, but life is never the perfect thing we want it to be. It is messy and chaotic, unpredictable in such a way that surprise should be something we expect to happen daily. But just because life changes in ways we don’t understand, doesn’t mean it has to be bad. As they breathe each other in, peace and order has placed the two together in sync, if only for a short time.

  
“John.”

  
“Hmm…”

  
“Am I still in my false heat? I feel like being this close to you should be affecting me, like this morning.” Iris is warm under John’s hands and at the mention of what happened last night between them, he feels the Omega’s temperature go up.

  
“The way you described it says to me, that the answer is yes. Are you feeling it right now? Do you need me to leave?” John asks concerned. He doesn’t want to step over the boundaries that they have yet to lay.

  
“No…no I’m fine. That was what I was wondering about. I guess I was just wondering why last night I lost control but I’m fine now.”

  
“Oh. Well, it seems like your sleepy brain gets overridden by your new instincts easier than your awake brain. You wake up and you are already under your Omega’s control. It will take time for you to manage your Omega side and even when you think you finally have it all figured out, it will surprise you. I’ve had much more time to figure out my Alpha side than you and it still scares me how it will change and override me sometimes.”

  
“Yeah, it’s getting stronger. I feel it more and more, urges and strange feelings that I can’t explain. So, my Omega is what’s controlling me, making me behave like that?” Iris blushes.

  
“Yes. It’s okay pup. I know that it wasn’t you, that you weren’t in control like you want to be. I’ve been doing the same thing for weeks now, did the same thing to you earlier that day. My Alpha telling me to do something and then me watching as I do it, feeling lost as my brain zeros in on something and I lose my ability to think.”

  
“What did I do last night John?” He sounds small when he asks, scared and confused, likely barely able to remember what happened at all. His conscious mind shut down and his Omega in full control.

  
“It’s not a morning I’m going to forget anytime soon. I woke up to you grinding on me.” Iris once again moves his eyes down, not looking at the Alpha. “Hey...hey.” He grabs up Iris’s face and makes him look up at him. “Look at me. There is nothing wrong with what you did. _Okay?_ I knew it was you and I tried to ask you what you were doing, but as soon as you said something I knew it wasn’t _you_. I knew it was your Omega and I know you didn’t tell me I could or couldn’t touch you but I also knew that breaking you out of your Omega state wasn’t going to work as easy as it did with your dad.” Iris keeps looking at him, hanging on his every word.

  
“I hope you don’t mind but, I held onto you and helped you grind yourself against me and when your shorts started to slide off I just took them off you enough that you could keep going. I guided you to use me and maybe I shouldn’t have, but I marked you temporarily as mine. I feel ashamed to have touched you even in the limited way I did, I _wanted_ to touch you and you said you wanted me too, but that isn’t real permission and I_ know_ that. But I still touched you anyway.

Afterward, when you actually woke up, I didn’t know what to say, but I wanted to take care of you, which is why I put you in the bath and then back to bed. I figured you going back to sleep would give me some time to think about everything.” John tries to smile but, he knows he’s potentially really messed up. He doesn’t think Iris will be mad, otherwise the Omega wouldn’t have been so calm this morning. Knows Iris suspects that something must have happened.

  
“Thank you for being honest with me. I don’t remember anything that happened before I woke up on top of you. I knew it had to have been me, since you were fine, but if it happens again…I’m fine if you do the…same thing. I’m…happy that you were there to take care of me. That you didn’t just leave me lost in that state, consumed by my own impulses.” Iris pulls in close to John and buries his head. “Thank you. I want to thank you every day for being such a good Alpha, I feel like I would end up saying it constantly and every time it would still hold the same meaning and feeling as the first. I know you’re not our Alpha…at least not yet, but I really like smelling like you and being claimed by you. Maybe that’s just my Omega but, I can’t even be a little mad at you, not when every day I just want to sink deeper into your scent and have what you did to me happen when I can remember.” John hugs Iris to his chest.

  
John ponders how his life has suddenly soared so high when he had been close to breaking those few short months ago. He holds in his arms a person he would never have imagined loving and will soon hold another whom he loves just as much. He feels exhausted from the talking, even if it seemed so short, even if he didn’t answer everything. It’s too much to handle in such a short time, too much to process, so he buries his own face into Iris’s curls and let’s his emotions out. He doesn’t let himself cry, was always told that Alpha’s don’t cry, they are strong and fierce, protectors who will go to any lengths for those around him. But the weight of everything that’s been happening has been too much. He’s been denying his feelings and blaming himself for everything that has happened between him and the Omegas, when they themselves have been struggling just as much.

  
When Iris feels the Alpha start to cry, his chest expanding with a long drawn out breath, he hugs the Alpha tighter. He lets John get it all out, knows that he’s been battling against himself, knows he needs this.

  
Once the Alpha finally relaxes his grip Iris pushes on John to roll onto his back. He climbs on the Alpha and without asking, pushes his face into his chest, rubbing his forehead and cheeks along the smooth skin. The Alpha has been annoyingly shirtless all morning, but right now it comes in handy as Iris scents himself along the broad chest. John surprisingly lets him, even as he inches his way up and hesitates as he just barely rests his scent gland against John’s. The Alpha doesn’t move, just steadily breathes against him, but Iris can feel through his hand over John’s heart that the Alpha’s heart is hammering just like his own. Iris moves slowly, he wants to calm and reassure the Alpha. He’s not in heat, doesn’t feel the false heat either. Just wants the comfort and to get more used to each other. Wants the scenting to become something they can do more often, something they do, not because it’s sexual, but because it’s comforting. John seems to take it the same way when he rumbles out a pleased noise as Iris starts to lightly purr against him. It’s slow and gentle, eventually slowing down to them just laying together, the Alpha and Omega relaxed and happy.

  
John is content as he runs his hands through Iris’s hair, the Omega has accidentally fallen asleep again and left him to his own head. Sherlock will be getting out of heat soon and he expects the conversation with the detective to go, if all fairs well, even better than this one. For now, he has to wait and wait he does as the clouds roll in and then the dark of night fills the room once more. An entire day gone by, the world outside moving tirelessly even as time in the flat felt still. Calm.

  
\-----

  
John wakes up to the feeling that someone is watching him. But as he blinks himself awake and untangles himself from Iris, he doesn’t see anyone, though the smell of heat is stronger in the room. He looks to the Omega’s room and the door is open, he can hear the sound of the shower running and it seems that Sherlock’s heat has broken. He gets up, shaking off the sleep from his bones, headed for the bedroom.

  
As he expected, the room is full of scent but even after twenty-four hours he’s barely reacting, only the slightest bit of buzz in his head as he efficiently strips the soiled sheets, throwing them into a pile outside the door, then searching around for replacements. While he’s here he also grabs fresh clothes for Iris who’s been hanging out in his clothes for a day and as much as he loves the idea of the teen always wearing his clothes, he really shouldn’t.

  
Once he’s finished remaking the bed, he grabs the empty water bottles, replaces them with new ones and goes to put the laundry on. Sherlock didn’t get to eat between when the case ended and when his heat began, so his next stop needs to be to the store and to convince Sherlock to put down some food. His heat will have exhausted him and he’s already so thin, rarely eating anything unless John forces him, and even then he just picks at stuff.

  
After he returns from the store, bags in hand he finds that Iris has showered and is sitting wearing the clothes John had laid out. The teen helps him to put food away, but he seems a little off. He’s not cheery or relaxed, he’s clearly thinking about something, John has come to know the little Omega well enough to see it.

  
“Where’s your dad, I want to get a good meal into him if I can?”

  
“He left already.” Iris says as he sniffs a mysterious container in the fridge.

  
“Oh, where was he going?” Sherlock never tends to tell the Alpha where he’s going but with Iris it’s different. He’s often caught the detective about to scurry off, just to have him rush back over to Iris to let him know what’s happening. He even sends texts to Iris letting him know he’s safe.

  
“He didn’t say…he actually didn’t say anything to me.” Iris’s voice sounds really small.

  
John pauses with the milk in his hand, the plastic shopping bag he just pulled it out of fluttering to the ground. “What do you mean he didn’t say anything to you? He always says something to _you_.” John gestures at him with the milk but has to put it down a moment later when he rushes to the little Omega when Iris curls in on himself.

  
“I said hi to him as he went through the kitchen, but he just g-grabbed…sniff…he just grabbed his coat and ran out.” Iris looks up as John puts his hands on the teen shoulders. “H-h-he never does that…he…he _always_ tells me where he’s going.” Iris looks at John, his eyes are all big, tears starting to roll down his cheeks. The teen grabs onto John’s shirt, balling his hands into fists, his forehead pressed against the Alpha’s shoulder.

  
“Oh pup. It’s okay. I’m sure he was just in too much of a hurry. He’ll probably remember and text you soon.” John tries to be comforting but as he wraps his arms around Iris, letting off a bit of his scent, he knows that what he just said is probably a lie. If Sherlock has the chance to tell Iris face to face where he’s going, he usually does. The very first case they were on, Sherlock didn’t know where he was going, but he and Iris had exchanged a look and later on in the cab Sherlock had been texting away. John’s sure that Sherlock makes a concerted effort to always let Iris know at least roughly where he is and when he’s expected back, he loves his son enough to never intentionally make him worry.

  
“It’s been hours and I think…I t-think he’s mad at me…hic…” The teen cries into the Alpha’s shoulder, his body shaking as a sob racks his small frame.

  
“Why would he be mad at you?” John tries to laugh but Iris just sobs worse and the sound gets caught in his throat.

  
“Are you kidding John?!” Iris pulls away, crossing his arms defensively across his stomach. “My nest smells of_ us_, _I_ smell of us, and he clearly saw the mark on my neck. I’m sure dad figured out what happened with barely a glance at me.” Iris rubs over the mark and while the gesture itself seems fond as if he enjoys it being there, his face looks angry.

  
“But, we didn’t do anything, at least not anything that he can be mad at us for. He may think he read the clues to what happened but he didn’t talk to us, he doesn’t know the whole story. When he comes home we can just explain what happened, explain the false heat and that we talked about you and him continuing on together…and the prospect of maybe one day you and me.” As he says everything Iris just shakes his head, over and over.

  
“No…I know him. He’s not going to listen, he thinks he has all the answers already and we’re just the idiotic perpetrators who got caught.”

  
“But we didn’t —"

  
“I _know_ we didn’t John, but _he_ doesn’t and…and I…I don’t know, I’ve never had him mad at me before.” Iris looks down to the floor. “I’m a bad son.”

  
“No. No pup, you are a wonderful son. Your dad loves you.” John takes Iris’s face into his hands, tilting the teen’s head back up so they can be eye to eye. “I’ll explain it all and everything will be fine. I promise, I’ll make him understand.”

  
Iris looks at him, but John can see in his eyes that he doesn’t believe him and truthfully John isn’t sure he believes his words either.

  
\-----

  
Sherlock doesn’t come home until late, when John has already gone to bed in his own bed and Iris has curled himself crying into his nest. During the day John helped him wash all the bedding, so it no longer smelled like the two of them and everything that had happened during Iris’s false heat. Iris doesn’t move when Sherlock creeps in the door, just lays and watches the fire dance his face still streaked with tears, waiting to see what his father will do.

  
The detective stands still, his presence felt throughout the room, a looming shadow cast by the fire flickers on the wall. He crosses to stand near Iris and the little Omega barely glances at him, his face an unreadable mask he only sets in place when he’s hurting the most. Iris has never had that face directed at him, only seen it the few rare times that uncle Mycroft had gotten a good enough rise out of Sherlock at the few family gatherings they’ve attended. He feels fresh tears well up, clearly his father is even angrier with him than he thought.

  
Sherlock doesn’t say anything, just stares down at Iris as the teen continues lightly weeping. Iris wants to say everything, to explain that nothing really happened but his words are caught. He looks back up but his dad is gone, having silently walked away at some point. Iris lays back down and stares into the fire some more. He realizes as he watches the flames lick at the wood that sometimes talking about your feelings is more difficult than he thought it ever would be. He himself had criticized his dad just a few short days ago, he had been upset that Sherlock hadn’t told John how he felt, had clammed up at the perfect opportunity to talk…and yet what had he just done. He had been silent. He was no better. The perfect time to calmly explain the situation had presented instead and he was too emotional to even utter a single word.

  
“Weak.” He says to the fire as he lays there chastising himself. He had been stupid and reckless to do say anything to John, he mouthed off about everything, crying over his own feelings like a baby, all the while believing himself to be an adult. The fact that he had finally admitted to liking John and about wanting something more with him doesn’t matter anymore, he feels as if he’s been reduced back to a temperamental child. For all that he went to college six years before his peers it doesn’t matter because he can’t have a simple adult conversation.

  
‘Is it different because of the person, or just because confessing to a crush is easier than trying to explain yourself to an angry parent that you think won’t believe you? I guess with the crush they automatically believe you because why would you lie? but…but that’s why it’s so hard to explain because I want to believe that it was all nothing but I feel so _guilty_.” Iris thinks, his head spinning wildly. ‘I feel guilty because dad likes John and my actions made him angry with John and…with myself.’

  
The young Omega weeps more, his cries can be heard as John pads lightly down the stairs on his way to the bathroom. The Alpha goes past Iris, letting him have a moment as he attends to his business. But when he comes back out he can’t ignore the crying, he cares for Iris too deeply to let him suffer his thoughts on his own.

  
John doesn’t dare touch the nest, the two of them are in a weird sort of limbo until they talk to Sherlock and get everything sorted out. Instead he sits in his chair and looks at the fire with Iris, not talking, just being in each other’s proximity.  
It takes a little while for Iris to calm down and before long the teen is fast asleep, his breathing even. John knew his presence would help, he wishes he could have gotten into the nest but this isn’t the time for that. He gets up and lightly walks over to the Omega’s room. He can see the light on from under the door, even sees the shadow as Sherlock moves inside, letting him know the detective is undeniably awake.

  
“Sherlock?” He says it low as he knocks on the door, trying not to wake up the newly asleep Iris. He doesn’t want to wait for the morning to have his hard conversation with Sherlock, he’s hoping the stubborn Omega will let him in and he lightly tries the handle, not expecting it to open, which it doesn’t. “Sherlock we _need_ to talk.” John watches the shadow under the door as it gets bigger, letting him know the detective is standing close to the door. “Can you let me in?” He waits a moment, but nothing happens, Sherlock remains silent and the door remains locked.

  
“Fine. I just want to let you know that you really hurt Iris today. I know you probably think that’s insensitive because your own feelings are hurt but it’s not what you think. I know you saw the mark on his neck, I know you could smell us together but it’s not what it looks like. You only have some of the evidence, you’re missing the clues that will point you toward the whole truth.” He licks his lips, his throat feels dry and scratchy, emotions running high. He needs this to work, he needs Sherlock to understand that it’s just a misunderstanding, that he was just helping Iris during the false heat.

  
“I did what you asked of me, I didn’t want to and because of that I almost hurt Iris, I almost did something I shouldn’t have. But I left, I went to the clinics and when I got back I…I felt so ashamed. But Iris didn’t think of it like that, he knew it wasn’t me who was doing those things to him, knew it was my own biology reacting to your heat. But I’m not the only one who reacted. Iris goes into a false heat when you’re in heat, he woke up in the middle of the night and I knew I wouldn’t be able to wake him from it, his Omega is showing itself more. It had him in it’s grasp and I did my best to ease him through it. I swear to you Sherlock, I didn’t touch him, I kept my hands on his hips and yes…yes I did mark him, but it’s only temporary. We talked about it and I asked him for permission to court you and I gave him my approval for the two of you to be together.” John puts his head against the door, closes his eyes and lets out a long sigh.

  
“I want to have those adult conversations we agreed to have, I want you to talk to me instead of taking your anger out on Iris. He doesn’t deserve the way you treated him today. He’s so scared and his body and life are drastically changing right now. He _needs_ you Sherlock, you’re his dad and next time instead of getting mad at him, get mad at me. I know that sounds foolish but I can take it, because I can get mad right back or go for a walk. But he doesn’t know what to do. He’s just lost and thinks he was bad, but he wasn’t and I told him how much you loved him and how what happened wasn’t his fault and then you just…you just tore that all down and now it feels like I lied to him….” John is silent for a while, just leaning against the door.

  
“Please Sherlock….just talk to him at least. Just forgive him, it’s not his fault…look at the evidence again.” He gives one final look at the door. Still locked between him and the man he’s fallen for before turning around and going back to his room.

  
John dresses in warm clothes and sneaks out of the house, intent on going for that walk he just talked about. He prays along the way as he walks down the deserted nighttime sidewalk that Sherlock took everything he said to heart. He would rather Sherlock never want to speak to him again than have him and Iris be fighting.

  
He walks the streets, they’re cold and desolate, reflecting back at him the way his life was just a few short weeks ago. He longs to go back to the warmth of the flat but it feels wrong right now, too much tension. He needs to give Sherlock enough time to think through it all and then talk to Iris, so for now the night is all his.

  
In the park as the sun rises, John feels his phone vibrating in his pocket. He hastily looks down thinking it might be Sherlock, but is disappointed to find that it’s the breeding clinic.

  
“Hello?” He says tentatively. He doesn’t remember the doctor ever saying they would call him.

  
“John? John Watson?” The voice on the other end says hurriedly.

  
“Yes. This is he.”

  
“John, this is Dr. Evans, I’m sorry to be calling so early but we have an emergency here at the clinic and I can’t get a hold of our other Alphas. Can you come in right now?”

  
“Uhhhh…yeah…yeah I’ll be right over.”

  
“Please hurry.”

  
\-----

  
The trip to the clinic is a short cab ride away, the work traffic hadn’t yet picked up fully. He pays the cabbie and takes the few stairs up to the entrance with haste. The doctor had seemed stressed and said it was an emergency, so it seems time might be of the essence. Soon as he’s through the front door, the clean chemical smell hits his nose worse than in the past, as if they had drenched the place.

  
“John, come right now.” Dr. Evans stands in the doorway leading to the back. The Beta is beckoning him with his whole arm, flinging it around hastily. The only other time he was here he had to sign in at the desk then wait around until they could get everything ready for him, but as he passes through the door he realizes that this really must be a crisis.

  
“What’s going on?” John questions as the doctor gets in front of him, guiding him down the hall, taking several turns along the way.

  
“We had a young Omega who was carried into the clinic. He was found in an alley not far from here, he appears to have gone into his first heat. We got a collar on him and cleaned him up thinking he could just stay here to wait out his heat. We try not to make it a habit to let Omegas do that if they aren’t going to be breed, but we make exceptions.” Dr. Evans reaches a door, knocks twice but flings it open without a response. They both hurry inside and John is surprised to find a middle aged male Beta and a female Omega already inside.

  
“Uh…okay.” John says, not yet knowing why an in heat Omega coming to the clinic would constitute an emergency.

  
“This is the Omega's…this is Jeremy’s parents.” Evan’s gestures at the couple.

  
“Hello—.” John says but is cut off, which is good because he has no idea what to say.

  
“The problem we have is that Jeremy is overheating.” John looks at the other doctor his eyes going wide, now finally understanding why he’s here. Overheating happens to Omega’s usually during a first heat where if they don’t get a release preferably from a knot, real or not, their body continues to heat up and produce unnatural levels of heat chemicals in the brain. An orgasm will relieve this, allowing the Omega to release the exact opposite chemical which will bring down the heat temporarily until it spikes again. The problem is that sometimes Omega’s become unresponsive and will not relieve themselves, leading to overheating which if left unchecked can lead to death. It happens every year, young Omega’s found alone having overheated during their presentation, they’re brains shutting down as their pheromones pump out tantalizing smells. Scents that aren’t detected by an Alpha because so few exist.

  
“Alright. What’s his current condition?” John’s doctor side kicks in and Dr. Evan’s nods in understanding.

  
“As I said before, we cleaned him up and got a collar on him before the full heat hit, we have unused toys just in case of emergency and we left them with him. We had a Beta nurse check on him and he was completely out of it, refusing to touch or do anything to himself. We gave him blankets and water, hoping a nesting response would calm him and prompt him to use the toy but…he hasn’t touched the blankets at all.” The doctor runs his hands through his hair.

  
“No nesting response, from a newly presented Omega?” The hair rises on the back of John’s neck. Omegas will accidentally nest just days before presenting, it’s one of the first signs which can alert parents to the secondary gender.  
“None. We tried having a few of our Beta breeders go in to sooth Jeremy, but he lashed out and two had to go to the hospital for severe bites. He’s waring against his body in there. I know you’re one of our new Alphas but you’re also a doctor and he needs real help at this point. I don’t think he’s going to let anyone but an Alpha near him and if you try to give him a toy, I think he’s going to get angry.” The two parents are huddled together looking between the two doctors, following along.

  
“If I go in there he’ll end up pregnant, you know that’s basically guaranteed.” John says, addressing the parents. They’re both a little round eyed and look at Dr. Evans, as if they suddenly can’t speak.

  
“I already discussed it all with them. We have full authorization to have you in with Jeremy, afterward we can easily terminate the pregnancy.”

  
“What about _his_ consent?” John says, thinking about ‘what if it were Iris in there’.

  
“At this point we can only ask his parents’ permission and hope that his Omega side accepts you.” John nods, knowing that would be the answer.

  
“Alright. I’ll help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please let me know what you think by adding a comment. I hope you enjoyed. I enjoyed writing it.


	7. Hurt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sherlock is hurt, Iris is hurt, and John is hurt... just all in different ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, thanks for continuing onto the next chapter, we have started into The Great Game. 
> 
> As always my work is completely based on fiction and I do not condone the various behaviors portrayed in it in real life, this is all just fantasy. Please feel free to point out inaccuracies and spelling errors and I will change them.

Sherlock is furious. He’s hurt, shocked, betrayed and he’s never felt all of these emotions all at once. After John leaves his door, the Alpha having tried to talk to him through it, he rips the sheets off the bed, the ones the doctor had put on while he showered. He shoves them out the door, then goes back to pacing around the bed, not willing to touch it further. The whole room feeling tainted after everything that’s happened the in last two days.

When his heat had finally broken, he had been relieved that he could finally see both John and Iris again. Heats had always been lonely times, he was so used to Iris being in the nest even if he himself wasn’t sleeping. He would often just lay next to his pup and work in his mind palace as Iris slept peacefully. 

Sherlock had gotten up from the bed, exhausted by the toll heat takes on his body. He stumbled into the kitchen, his legs wobbling as he tries to work the tired muscles. He breathes in and is immediately hit with the combined scent of Alpha and Omega. He covers his nose, the smell so strong it’s nearly suffocating. He can taste it on his tongue when he tries to breathe through his mouth and he hurries then toward the sitting room, anxious to find why the flat smells so heavily of John and Iris.

It’s blatantly obvious what’s happened right under his nose when he sees the two in the nest, wrapped up together under the covers, their arms and legs tangled together, pressed so close there’s no room left for misinterpretation. The smell is overwhelming. It makes a small whine start in his throat, which he has to tamp down. His heat always has him more emotional than he ever would normally be and the scene in front of him has tears forming unbidden.

As much as he wants to look away, as much as he wants to run from the house and never look back. He also can’t help but want to take in every detail and clue of their betrayal. They’ve been scenting each other, that much is obvious, but it’s more than that. The little bit of shirt on Iris that sticks out from the blankets is one of John’s, while the Alpha has bare shoulders meaning he’s completely shirtless. An Omega wearing an Alpha’s clothes isn’t particularly sexual, but Iris had been wearing his own clothes, which means at some point they were soiled and he needed new ones. 

Sherlock almost goes to grab for the comforter to see how bare the man is but stops himself short. There on Iris’s scent gland is a large temporary claiming bruise, made by the same mouth that left the one that still adorns his own neck. His hand comes up to cover it, envy and rage filling his lungs. He looks to John once again and sees little marks on the Alpha’s neck and collarbones, nips where Iris had had his mouth on the man. Sherlock isn’t sure how long he stands there watching them, drowning in the combined scents that smell like him, that should be his and John’s, not John’s and Iris’s. Under that scent he can just barely pick up the scent of Iris’s cum, he knows the smell of it, has licked it from his fingers after having his own hand wrapped around his pup’s cock.

Sherlock is silent as he rushes to the bathroom and closes the door. He wants to yell, wants to scream and slam the door but at the same time he doesn’t want them to see him like this. Won’t let them get under his skin, they can’t see him cry as he turns the water scorching and tries to wash away his feelings. All he ends up doing is washing away the slight smell of John that had been left in the bed after the Alpha left, when Sherlock’s heat had started. It had felt like such a significant thing for him, finally admitting that the Alpha had been occupying his mind. They had laid right here, their scents mixing and soaking into the nest.

He had never had an Alpha’s scent near him when he’s gone into heat, especially one from someone who said he cared for him, and for his son. The detective would never admit it but not too soon after he was settled in, extra water on the bedside table and Iris gone from the room with the door locked, he had rolled onto his stomach and shoved his nose into the spot on the pillow where John’s head had been. He let his mind go hazy, breathing in the scent that had been tempting him for weeks, let the aroma dance along his senses and clutch him in its grasp.

The desire that had rolled through his body at the smell of dark forest pine had him stripping off the little bit of clothing he had on, tugging his shirt up and off before planting his face back into the pillow. The second gulp of scent had his hips thrusting into the mattress, seeking friction like he had never done in his life, not since that first heat when he had been caught off guard, not knowing what his body was doing. Every other heat he had spent since then, he had gone into his mind palace, never touching himself for a moment, completely uninterested in his body. But all that is gone now, his inhibitions forgotten as he took himself in hand, panting and whining into the pillow, chasing release to the smell of the Alpha he might actually one day have. His own Alpha who loves him, who wants to solve mysteries and chase after him even if it’s in the dead of night or the frigid cold of winter. No matter what the danger is, the Alpha revels in it, fights and kills for him without a second thought and Sherlock wants to give himself to that, wants to immerse himself in everything that the Alpha has to give.

But even as he touched himself to thoughts of the Alpha, only two rooms over John had been touching his son in the same way. Sure, John had said he didn’t touch Iris, but Sherlock doesn’t believe him. The Alpha has never had a reason to lie to him before but now he does, the signs are all there that they did things they weren’t supposed to, at least not until they all talked about it more. The jealousy over Iris bubbles in his gut, he hasn’t eaten in days and his foul mood makes him want to eat just that much less. Some small part of his mind tries to tell him that it could all be a misunderstanding. That John has been kind and wonderful to them all these weeks and he had said he wanted to court him, that he even asked Iris for permission and that he gave permission to continue his trysts with Iris as well. There hadn’t been any trace of the musky scent of John’s seed in the flat, the smell that could sometimes be found in the bathroom after one of the Alpha’s particularly long showers.

It gives him pause but then he realizes it doesn’t matter, the smell could easily be gone if the younger Omega had swallowed all the evidence, the scent never meeting the air. Sherlock had clearly deceived himself into thinking John might be different, that he might care about the two of them enough that maybe they could become a pack. Packs weren’t common, especially to have the Omega’s to be so closely related, but there had been something there in the back of Sherlock’s mind, saying that maybe it made sense. Maybe Iris wasn’t meant to leave the nest, he was plenty old enough to have left willingly many years ago, yet he had stayed. Had kept the nest as theirs, not leaving to make his own. And then John had come, saying he loved both of them and it just felt right somehow. How had it gone so wrong so quickly, just when John and he had finally told each other their somewhat truths. That they liked each other. When really they both know it's more than that. Their scents were trying to tempt them, tell them they needed to be more. Yet John had tried his best to get to know them both. He had watched and learned with them, saw the experiments, the level of creativity they both possessed and seemed to desire them even more for it. It wasn’t just biological, it was deeper.

But John hadn’t been lying when he said he cared for them both. Sherlock could always tell when he looks at the Alpha if he’s lying. He had been so truthful and maybe he is being harsh on them right now, he knows that they were likely to get together later, but right now he just doesn’t want to think about it anymore. He’s too emotional coming out of his heat and it’s all making his head throb as he shifts through the information, trying to store it all for later use when he could think with a clear head.

The way John had pleaded through the door that he hadn’t really touched Iris, the way he told Sherlock he would gladly have the detective rage directed at him, if only he would forgive Iris and talk to him. John is right, he does need to talk to Iris. He doesn’t want to be mad at his son at least. Iris has been his whole world and even if the younger acted poorly he could learn to forgive him, could delete the information of John from his memory forever to have the little Omega smiling at him once again. His emotions are still raw from the heat, he’s going to be mad and he might even yell, but Iris is his and he will not fight with him, he’ll leave his anger for the Alpha who started all of this.

The sitting room is calm as Sherlock enters. Iris’s nest is still there near the fire and his little Omega lays there gently on top of the covers, his eyes staring unblinking at the ceiling. Sherlock recognizes that Iris is in his own mind palace, he taught the technique to the pup when he was little and they had bonded over the experience. It was just another reminder of how much he and Iris were the same. Even with his heart aching and rage in his mind, he still somehow manages to smile as he watches Iris. The little creature he made so long ago was already so big and still growing. He doesn’t want to disturb Iris while he’s in his mind, knows himself how disorienting it can be to be shaken from that state of mind. He turns around, intent on waiting for him in the kitchen, John doesn’t seem like he will be back for a while. He’s just about to move when behind him an explosion sounds, the windows shattering inward from the blast, which knocks Sherlock to the ground, prone.

\-----

John gasps for air through the steam of the scalding hot water which pours down around his body in thick rivets. He can’t even stand in the stream of the shower, sitting instead hunched over as he takes a rough loofa to his skin, scrapping it painfully across every limb, trying desperately to rub away the scent. He can still smell it, can smell the virgin Omega’s scent in his nose, as it continues affecting his body. Even as he whines and pleads for his body to return to normal, to respond appropriately to his ragged emotions, his erection from the heat scent throbs where it sits against the shower floor, reminding him that he’s never been in control. His Alpha is angry with him, howling and snarling with rage, pacing back and forth in his chest like a caged animal. He had left the Omega, the one with the sweet morning dew scent which had tempted him as soon as he had entered the room. He had lost himself, yet somehow he was here now, the Omega gone and his Alpha wolf is enraged about that.

The pure white walls of the clinics shower shine from the harsh fluorescent lighting. He tries to clear out his nose, blowing it out and then sniffing at the scent blocking soap, hoping for a moment of relief. It doesn’t help much, so he just goes back to scrubbing as hot tears get washed away by scorching water. He gets flashes of memories. He remembers entering the room to see Jeremy, the Omega laid out on the floor, his small lithe frame and dark hair reminding John so much of Iris. John grabs the scent blocking shampoo and practically dumps it onto his head. Another flash, this time of the Omega on his knees, ass presented to him, dripping with slick and smelling of pure virgin heat.

John scrubs his head, he needs to keep moving, needs his hands doing something so he doesn’t grab onto himself. He whines as a spurt of precum leaks from his cock, body aching with the torment of having such a compatible Omega taken away from him. An Omega who contains his seed, was likely pregnant with his pups already. An Omega that had been deflowered by him, his most base instincts scream at him that he needs to get back into that room, needs to make sure _his _Omega is plugged up again. To make sure he’s safe and the brand new life in his belly will stay. His cock bounces on the floor and he lathers more shampoo into his hair. He won’t do it. He won’t let his Alpha take hold of him. Jeremy is gone, the teen is fine, he’s going to the hospital with his parents and John will _never_ see him again.

His skin is raw and red, some spots rubbed over so viciously that small drops of blood try to pool on the surface just to be washed away by the water. John doesn’t want to move, he’s tried his best to erase the dewy scent from his body but his mind knows what it smells like. His body refuses to be done with the encounter, refuses to believe that he had his knot buried deep in a compatible Omega and yet he was still unmated. He whines and shakes his head back and forth, the water and shampoo getting into his eyes.

He finally lets go, takes himself in hand and strokes fast, trying to blank out his mind, to get it over with and try to settle his Alpha down. It doesn’t work well enough, snippets of images flashing across his eyes. Jeremy face down in the pillow as John slams into him, his knot finally entering the Omega and breaking him open for the first time, a pressure he’s never felt before crushing down on him and then the taste of leather in his mouth as he bit down into the collar.

John comes across the tile, but he refuses to touch his half formed knot, doesn’t want to remember the feeling of anything ever being around it. He sobs as his knot burns, his whole body full of shame and agony over what he almost just did in that room and what he just had to do right now.

If Dr. Evans thought the Alpha looked bad when he left last time, he was mistaken. John comes out of the cleanup room with dead eyes. The Alpha looks only to the ground and when the Beta doctor tries to talk to him, he walks right past and out the doors. He doubts he’ll ever see the Alpha again.

\-----

The walk back to the flat is slow, John doesn’t know that he’s ready to return just yet. His distressing experience at the clinic has him dragging his feet as he attempts to pull himself together. He left the flat with Sherlock mad at him, Iris sad, and himself just wanting a walk for some fresh air. Now as he returns he hopes and prays that at least the two Omegas are back on speaking terms, even if Sherlock kicks him out he’ll be satisfied that they will be okay together.

As he rounds a corner on his way to the flat the smell of many different scents hits his nose. He recognizes several of them as police that he’s smelled before at the station the few times he’s been there. He approaches cautiously, unsure of what’s going on until he sees a giant hole in the front of the building across from that flat, bricks and wood broken and splintered is thrown out across the road. There are police and fire units everywhere, people rushing around as they clean up the mess and assess the damage. John looks up and sees the windows to the flat boarded up and his blood runs cold. Iris had been in the sitting room in his nest and those windows are the ones that would have been right above him when the glass shattered.

John runs to the police line and dodges under it easily, he knows enough of the police that no one will likely stop him and even if they did he would easily sway them with his commanding Alpha voice. One of the officers does look at him, but quickly looks away as John growls at him. He grabs the door handle and the next thing he knows he’s running up the stairs, yelling for Sherlock and Iris. He’s so zeroed in on finding them that he doesn’t even notice Mycroft sitting in his chair as he rushes into the sitting room.

“John.” Sherlock says as a way of greeting, though he barely looks over for a moment at the Alpha. He doesn’t appear to be upset any longer, though as John finally notices the Beta he realizes that Sherlock has his ‘I’m dealing with Mycroft’ face on, so his real emotions are suppressed. His mask firmly sitting in place as his long fingers pluck at the string of a violin. This must be the violin he was warned about but had yet to see.

“Are you alright, where’s Iris, is he okay?” As John looks around the room taking in the sight of the damage. Glass and papers lay scattered around the room, but curious enough Iris’s nest has been completely removed.

“Hmm? What? Oh yes, we’re fine. Gas leak, apparently.” He sounds positively bored and John bristles a bit at the tone, but reminds himself that he’s just walked into a game of wits between brothers and that’s likely why Sherlock is acting this way.

“I can’t.” Sherlock says, but when John looks he realizes that the detective is completely ignoring him, focused back onto his brother.

“Can’t?” Mycroft raises his eyebrow as if he knows that Sherlock’s lying. John himself knows Sherlock has no cases, he just went through a heat which seems to be the one thing that can stop the bloody git from working.

“The stuff I’ve got on is just too big. I can’t spare the time.” Sherlock lies through his teeth, his face continuing to remain passive as he plucks random notes on the violin. It seems as if him doing this might be a nervous tick, likely caused by his brother.

“Never mind your usual trivia. This is of national importance.”

“How’s the diet?” Sherlock suddenly says louder than necessary, clearly trying to derail the conversation.

“Fine.” Mycroft says evenly, though John can tell even from where he is near the broken window that the tone is forced. “Perhaps _you_ can get through to him, John.” The Beta smiles his fake smile over toward the Alpha.

“What?” John says as he brushes a bit of the dust off the desk he likes to use. He had just typed up the first case they ever went on about two weeks back right there and had intended to continue with a few small cases they did. He would have typed up the Chinese Antique Gang one but he had been a little preoccupied with Iris in a false heat and now the clinic…disaster. He breathes out a sigh, trying not to give his emotions away in his scent. His chest still clenches when he thinks about it.

“I’m afraid my brother can be very intransigent.”

“If you’re so keen, why don’t you investigate it?” Sherlock quips back.

“No-no-no-no-no. I can’t possibly be away from the office for any length of time – not with the Korean elections so…” Mycroft smiles mysteriously as he twiddles his umbrella around. Both John and Sherlock look over, knowing it’s just a Mycroft thing to hint at the power he has over things so far from home. “Well, you don’t need to know about that, do you?” He says to the room, just trying to tempt Sherlock into asking him about it. Toying with him. “Besides, a case like this – it requires...” Mycroft scrunches his nose as if he’s smelled something rotting. “…legwork.”

John had started pacing absentmindedly, the stress from lack of sleep and…other things making him anxious. He’s wondering how Iris is doing, with everything that’s been happening he shouldn’t be attending his classes, the little Omega should be home resting. John just wants to curl up with him but then his thoughts derail with a flashback of Jeremy’s all too similar dark curls, his hand wrapped in them... he lets out a shuddering breath.

“Sherlock’s business seems to be booming since you and he became ... _pals_.” The Beta emphasizes the last word, once again showing his discomfort at their arrangement. Though now that John knows what happened to Sherlock and how Mycroft was there to help and protect Sherlock after, he can see why the Beta is so protective over his younger brother. It perfectly explains why Mycroft would feel the need to kidnap him and take him to a warehouse. It was all to test if John was going to hurt Sherlock like he had been hurt in the past. Clearly he had somehow passed the Beta’s test or he wouldn’t be living here with them now. But even so, he’s somehow managed to hurt Sherlock, emotionally instead of physically.

“What’s he like to live with? Hellish, I imagine.” John finally manages to sit down, but he still ends up twiddling his thumbs and with Mycroft staring at him he feels like he’s being read like a book. But unlike the way Sherlock reads him, Mycroft’s eyes feel much more sinister.

“I’m never bored.” He answers as light heartedly as possible.

“Good! That’s good, isn’t it?” It sounds like a strange question and John wants to analyze it but the next moment Mycroft is standing up, grabbing a folder to his side. He looks to Sherlock who swings his violin bow and the two have a stare down which ends in Mycroft turning to John.

“Andrew West, known as Westie to his friends.” Mycroft hands John the folder and the Alpha surprises himself by accepting it, too flabbergasted by the Beta actually wanting to talk to him about a case. “A civil servant, found dead on the tracks at Battersea Station this morning with his head smashed in.” He looks over to Sherlock but the Omega is much too interested in the wall.

“Jumped in front of a train?” John questions, but he already feels like he knows that’s not the answer.

“Seems the logical assumption.”

“But…?” John asks.

“But?” Mycroft parrots back at him.

"Well, you wouldn’t be here if it was just an accident.” He can hear Sherlock make an appreciative noise from the other side of the room and it makes his inner Alpha happy for a moment that he got Sherlock’s attention in a positive manner. Though he then chastises himself because Sherlock shouldn’t be mad at him and he’s not a bloody teenaged girl pining after the rugby captain. He _is _the rugby captain.

“The M.O.D. is working on a new missile defense system. The Bruce-Partington Program, it’s called. The plans for it were on a memory stick.”

John chuckles as he flips through the folder. “That wasn’t very clever.” He says, looking up at Sherlock who is smirking widely as he wipes his bow down.

“It’s not the only copy.” John looks back to the file. “But it _is_ secret. And…missing.”

“Top secret.” The Alpha says and he gets a little thrill at the thought of a hunt with Sherlock.

“_Very._ We think West must have taken the memory stick. We can’t possibly risk it falling into the wrong hands.” Mycroft turns back to Sherlock, who is still wiping down his bow, completely uncaring to his brother’s plight. “You’ve got to find those plans, Sherlock. Don’t make me order you.” The Beta puts some emphasis behind his words and it almost makes John puff out his chest but Sherlock just takes a calming breath while raising his violin to his shoulder.

“I’d like to see you try.” Sherlock bites back, making John grin.

“Think it over.” Mycroft says leaning over and John swears for a moment he can smell the faint scent of another Omega in the room. A small rosemary smell, one of annoyance, lightly bitter to his tongue.

Mycroft says his goodbyes to John and Sherlock, as the detective starts playing a variety of irritating notes on his violin. John sees him out and when he is fully gone he turns back to Sherlock who is putting the violin down into his lap.

“Why’d you lie?” John asks, he doesn’t really want to talk about that right now but he’ll use anything he can to talk to Sherlock. “You’ve got nothing on – not a single case. You just came out of heat. Why did you tell your brother you were busy?”

“Why shouldn’t I?” He tries to look nonchalant as he scratches at his head but for once John feels like he is the one who can see past the surface.

“Oh…Oh I see. A sibling rivalry. Now we’re getting somewhere.” He sits back down on the coffee table, the file next to him already forgotten. John feels like this would be the perfect time to bring up the rift between them. As he goes to open his mouth, Sherlock’s phone goes off and the Omega answers it.

“Sherlock Holmes.” He says bluntly, deep voice as always something that surprises John. The other person on the phone must say something interesting because the detective is starting to smile as they continue on. “Of course, how could I refuse?” He says before hanging up. He swiftly but carefully deposits the violin back into its case and then strides to the bedroom. He enters quickly, John can hear some shuffling and then… “John and I are going to Scotland yard, I’ll text you later.” The Alpha is surprised to hear Sherlock reference him at all, and apparently he wants him around because he’s saying they are _both_ going. The detective rushes back into the room and grabs his coat and scarf.

“That was Lestrade. We’ve been summoned.” Is all Sherlock says before he’s taking off down the stairs.

It’s the first time it’s ever happened but John hesitates to follow immediately when called by the Omega directly. His instincts have been telling him to pursue Sherlock and he’s been blindly following them, believing that their compatible scents and Sherlock’s strange yet enchanting nature were exactly what he wanted. But the strain he’s put on this little family, the emotional weight that has fallen over them like a blanket of heavy fog has been all his fault. It’s possible he should leave them, there are others out there with scents just as alluring, he’s now met one and perhaps that is what he needs to do. To find a single person who smells right to him, not mess around with two people in a family that he just hurts in the end. He’s supposed to be a healer and yet he feels he has somehow lost his way.

John is still hesitating when Iris appears at the bedroom door. He looks confused to see the Alpha standing there. But with a single glance he can read John like Sherlock does and motions with his head toward the door. ‘Go get him. Don’t give up.’ it says.

John taking the hint and dashes down the stairs and down into the waiting taxi.

\-----

The taxi ride seems tense but John figures he’ll be quiet for now, clearly a case has come on and Sherlock is giving him some sort of chance, or maybe he’s just watching him and keeping him from Iris. Either way, John watches the buildings go by and doesn’t glance over at Sherlock.

John is trying to pay attention best he can as Lestrade and Sherlock go back and forth over some letter that was found after the gas leak explosion that supposedly wasn’t actually a gas leak. The other Alpha’s leather scent is bringing back the taste of the clinic’s collar in his mouth and it makes him bristle with anxiety. If he doesn’t get over what happened at the clinic he’s never going to be able to be in the same room as the detective inspector again.

When Sherlock dumps out a pink phone into his hands John is taken aback. “But that’s – that’s the phone, the pink phone.” He swallows heavily.

“What, from the Study in Pink?” Lestrade asks from behind them.

John turns first to Lestrade with a small smile on his face, he’s oddly happy that the other Alpha has read his words. Though Sherlock and he had had a bit of a row about the blog, mostly because the detective didn’t see the case the way he did and felt slightly insulted by some of his verbiage. It was also the moment he realized that Sherlock’s way of remembering facts was strange, the comparison to a computer not something he felt he completely understood. Iris had later confirmed that he did the same thing, except that he didn’t have the ability to “delete” things like his dad supposedly did.

“The Study in Pink? You read his blog?” Sherlock looks mildly irritated when he turns around but he doesn’t give Lestrade a moment to respond before he’s continuing on. “It isn’t the same phone. This one’s brand new.”

The sound of Greenwich pips is heard by the three of them, then a picture of a rundown room with a fireplace. The two Alphas are completely lost but Sherlock as always is on top of it. He tells them it’s a warning that the explosion that ripped through the building less than a day ago is going to happen again. The Omega is rushing out the doors, and with a quick glance the Alphas rush after him.

\-----

Fitting three grown men, two of which are very tall into a taxi is not what John expected to happen, even worse is that now with Lestrade following them along on the case he will continue to be on edge over the other Alphas scent. Of all the bloody scents in the entire world he would be stuck with the one he just needed to get away from at the moment.

When they pull up at Baker St John and Lestrade are confused. They follow Sherlock in but he doesn’t go up to the flat like usual, instead he heads toward Mrs. Hudson’s door. He calls for the older Omega and she comes running as always. Anything for Sherlock. He asks her to open up the flat 221C, it’s been unoccupied since he’s been living here, he had only seen it once briefly.

Soon enough the three of them are down in the basement flat, leaving Mrs. Hudson behind as this is official police business. The door creaks as the detective opens it into a sitting room like area. The others follow Sherlock into the room and both Alphas are on the defensive, scents permeating the air as their bodies let off warnings to those around them. If someone wanted to attack them they would have to get around the instincts to submit first. They’re faces are hard as they look around the room, it looks the same as the picture except for a pair of shoes that are neatly placed in the center of the room.

“Shoes.” John says and as Sherlock goes to move toward them. “He’s a bomber, remember.” His voice gives off a bit of growl in warning.

Sherlock stays put for a moment his Omega obeying the Alpha whose scent is overpowering in the air. But the pull of the mystery is stronger and he cautiously gets down to examine the shoes. As he gets close a phone rings and startles the three of them, causing Sherlock to rolls his eyes when he realizes that the adrenaline now pumping through his veins was something as stupid as a call.

Sherlock puts the phone on speaker, letting the Alphas listen in as well. “Hello.”

The voice that comes through is female and the shaky breath before she speaks says something is clearly wrong. “H-hello…sexy.” Both Alphas look at each other confused before turning back to the phone.

“Who’s this?”

“I’ve ... sent you ... a little puzzle ... just to say hi.” The voice says, ignoring Sherlock’s question. But the detective tries again.

“Who’s talking? Why are you crying?”

“I-I’m not ... crying ... I’m typing ...” The woman is sniffling and clearly crying. “... and this ... stupid ... bitch ... is reading it out.” A chill runs through the three of them and the scent in the air tells them all they’re worried by the sound of that. If this woman is just reading what she’s being told then not only do they have a potential bomber but a kidnapper and potential murderer if this doesn’t go the way they need it too.

“Twelve hours to solve my puzzle Sherlock…or I’m going to be…so…naughty.” The line goes dead and the detective looks to the two Alphas.

“I’ve been expecting this for some time.” They bag the shoes and Sherlock is off to go examine them with John in tow. Lestrade has to return to Scotland yard but tells them to call him immediately if something turns up from the shoes or if the bomber makes another call.

John is tempted to go see Iris but Sherlock is too excited and the Alpha fears that if the detective takes off without him, he might not find him again.

\-----

Sherlock is focused so completely on analyzing everything about the shoes that John feels out of place. He hasn’t visited Bart’s much since he met the detective here, it feels weird to remember that this is where it all started. It feels like it was years ago, time seeming to take on a strange ethereal quality since that chance meeting.

John looks at the computer which is running some sort of test, images flickering across the screen as it evaluates the samples. “So, who d’you suppose it was?” He asks, just to finally break the silence that has once again fallen over them.

“Hmm.” Sherlock doesn’t look up from the microscope he’s looking into and John faintly recognizes the Omega’s text alert which chimes suddenly.

“The woman on the phone. The crying woman.” The Alpha paces around the other side of the table, he’s not much use when it comes to the solving of the crime, not when there isn’t a dead body for him to examine, or a witness he needs to rough up. When it came to gathering all the strange scientific data, he was sorely lacking.

“Oh, she doesn’t matter. She’s just a hostage. No lead there.” Sherlock’s voice sounds bored and bland.

“For God’s sake, I wasn’t thinking about leads.” He growls, angry that the detective is acting overtly uncaring. John wonders if it’s because of what’s been happening or if Sherlock would have been just the same had everything in their budding relationship gone the other way. He knows Sherlock has empathy, he just seems to switch it off in a way that perhaps the Alpha has always does the opposite, being instead the one to always wear his heart on his sleeve.

“You’re not going to be much use to her.”

“Are-are they _trying_ to trace it, trace the call?” John asks.

“The bomber’s too smart for that.” Sherlock’s phone chimes again. “Pass me my phone.” The Omega demands in his still bored tone.

“Where is it?” It’s a testament to his immense patience that John even responds. He grits his teeth because he’s starting to get that urge again to push Sherlock up against a wall and scent him. But there’s a hostage who is somewhere crying and the bratty Omega isn’t _his_, he’s not even sure what they _are _right now. They never felt like _just _friends but now the Alpha feels like he would love to at least say that they were now, even with Sherlock being mad at him. He looks around but doesn’t see the phone.

“Jacket.” The Alpha looks at Sherlock and realizes by ‘jacket’ he means that the phone is literally in the sodding wanker’s pocket of the coat that he is currently wearing. He squares his jaw and blanks out his mind, thinking of the crying women’s voice and how it will all be worth it if they find her. He crosses to the other side of the room stiffly before jamming his hand down into Sherlock’s inner jacket pocket. He hasn’t touched Sherlock since the night they all slept together, peacefully in the nest. He can smell the faint meadow grass scent everywhere he goes but getting this close to Sherlock makes it worse, it fills his nose like that first day. He can even see a faint trace of his temporary mark above the collar of the jacket, it’s starting to fade and that annoys him even more.

“Careful.” Sherlock says in a tone that makes John stop and look at him for just a moment before he’s back to digging the phone out of the pocket, ignoring the Omega entirely and continuing to be rough about it. He finally gets a hold of the little device and opens it up.

“Text from your brother.”

“Delete it.” Sherlock continues staring into the microscope.

“Delete it?”

“Missile plans are out of the country now. Nothing we can do about it.” John looks at the phone, noticing just how many times Mycroft has tried contacting his little brother.

“Well, Mycroft thinks there is. He’s texted you eight times. Must be important.” Sometimes he _thinks _Sherlock knows everything and other times it appears like he skips a step in his logic just because he thinks he knows it all. That people will act or do exactly what he believes they will, and John’s already found that that’s not the case. His own experience with Iris now proves that point.

“Then why didn’t he cancel his dental appointment?” Sherlock says exasperated.

“His what?” John doesn’t know why he bothers sometimes.

“Mycroft never texts if he can talk. Look, Andrew West stole the missile plans, tried to sell them, got his head smashed in for his pains. End of story. The only mystery is this: why is my brother so determined to bore me when somebody else is being so _delightfully interesting_?”

“Try and remember there’s a woman here who might die.” He shuts off the phone.

“What for?” Sherlock finally looks up at John and it’s strange to want to look at his beautiful eyes when they’re angry at each other and those eyes don’t hold the emotion in them he knows they are capable off. “This hospital’s full of people dying, Doctor. Why don’t you go and cry by _their_ bedside and see what good it does them?” He goes to look back into the microscope, that John really wants to fling across the room, but the computer in front of them goes off with a loud jarring sound. Followed immediately by Molly walking into the room. John remembers the younger female Omega, wonders to himself what would have happened if she had instead had a scent like Sherlock’s. Then he rethinks that because he would have probably been just as desirous of the detective because of his mind and Molly...well she’s not nearly what he would have needed to keep him from pulling the trigger. At least he hopes he would have still been like that because if not then his Alpha driving him by scent is a real bastard for making him want mating above what’s good for him. Like his brains want for sweet cakes.

“Any luck?” She says, coming around to Sherlock’s side and John backs away from her, sliding behind Sherlock to stand against the cabinets. Figures he should let the two Omegas have some space, even if what he really wants to do is stand between them. Molly clearly has a large crush on Sherlock but he’s always shown complete disinterest in her so moving away is easier. It’s still oddly strange that Molly, an Omega, would find Sherlock, another Omega, the object of desire. John feels like it might have something to do with Sherlock’s first gender being male but needs more information so he just starts to observe them as another figure walks into the room.

“Oh sorry.” The man says as he comes in the room, he looks a little sheepish, like he didn’t mean to interrupt and was just following Molly. John notes that he’s a normal looking fellow, brown hair, brown eyes, unremarkable really.

“Jim! Hi…” Molly seems flustered and her citrus smell spikes with anxiety. “Come in, come in.” She says to this ‘Jim’. John isn’t too phased by the other, mildly curious but when Sherlock turns from the man, back to his microscope he knows he can fully relax because the detective has obviously determined this guy is harmless from a single look. He is still standing half at attention though, the military part of his brain kicking in.

“Jim, this is Sherlock Holmes.” Molly says, her voice pitches in such a way that Iris taught him means someone likes you, but her body language and scent around Sherlock has always been enough to give that away. Funny though that he now has that new thing to look for in people, something that would help him figure out Betas more since they can hide emotions behind their lack of scent. “And…uh, sorry?” John realizes that Molly is trying to introduce him as well, but she still doesn’t know who he is. It’s actually oddly the thing he likes most about her because being an Alpha he would expect her to treat him favorably and be interested in his status, but he doesn’t occupy any space in her head. It’s refreshing.

“John Watson. Hi.” He doesn’t really both looking at the guy, knows Sherlock is the main event in a meeting like this.

“Hi.” Jim says and John notes that his voice is a little strange when he says it. Breathy in a way that suggests he’s blown away by something. “So _you’re_ Sherlock Holmes. Molly’s told me all about you. You on one of your cases?” John observes the guy playing with his hands nervously as he talks. Jim then walks between Sherlock and John, letting the Alpha get the first hint of his scent. He’s clearly a Beta by every physical definition but his scent is that of an Alpha, though John notes that it’s a fake scent, perfume to make him seem more masculine. Betas have been doing that a lot, hoping to attract Omegas and John hates the smells, they are disgustingly false to his nose and he wonders if it’s the same for Omegas, if they can tell at all. If they can it clearly doesn’t bother Molly, though John steps a little further back just to get away from the perfume, smelling too much like burnt tobacco.

“Jim works in I.T. upstairs. That’s how we met. Office romance.” He says it all cheery, as if she’s happy about it but John can tell it’s all an act, her trying to get a rise out of Sherlock, as if he would care. She giggles and Jim does too, mimicking her.

Sherlock actually does move, to the surprise of John. He looks at Jim for a split second and while turning back to his microscope says. “Gay.”

John internally groans, Sherlock’s first response to anything seems to have a negative connotation to it, especially when he’s working since he just wants everyone to go away from him. It’s like a strange defense mechanism, as if being mean or aggressive is easier than just asking someone not to bother you because you’re busy and they’re a distraction. 

“Sorry. What?” Molly says, her face falling.

“Nothing. Um. Hey.” Sherlock says nodding and surprisingly even giving a halfhearted fake smile toward Jim. John just stares at the detective, the incredibly bizarre interaction of the Omega actually taking back what he said and being polite a complete shock to his system, especially when he had just judged him harshly not a moment before hand.

“Hey.” Jim says again, the same breathy sound escaping his lips and this time John wants to step between them, but the moment is broken anyway as the Beta accidentally knocks over a metal pan. It goes clanging to the ground, Molly’s scent spikes again with anxiety and probably embarrassment, and Sherlock just looks down pitifully as Jim tries to pick up the object.

“Sorry.” The Beta says from the ground as he grabs the pan. John has to turn away, the embarrassment of the whole thing too cringeworthy to continue watching. He looks up at the ceiling, hoping it will have something to distract him.

“Well, I’d better be off.” Jim says, putting the pan back where it belongs. He turns then to Molly. “I’ll see you at The Fox, ’bout sixish?”

“Yeah.” Molly smiles as Jim wraps his arm around her, but he’s looking at Sherlock as he does it. Almost like he too is trying to get the Omega’s attention.

“Bye.” Jim says toward Sherlock, but Molly responds by saying bye as well. “It was nice to meet you.” The Beta is being awfully polite still, considering Sherlock’s standoffishness. They all wait a moment for Sherlock to be polite again and at least say goodbye but apparently one well-mannered instance is all he can get out.

“You too.” John says and Jim looks at him, blinking a few times like he’s unsure of how to respond. But he walks out of the room with a slight smile, leaving the three there, awkwardness heavy in the air for John.

The door has barely closed when Molly is already on Sherlock’s comment and John sighs internally. “What do you mean, gay? We’re together.” She says motioning toward the door where Jim just exited.

“And domestic bliss must suit you, Molly. You’ve put on three pounds since I last saw you.” Sherlock says turning toward her, he’s back to being himself, tone mildly bored.

“Two and a half.” She says cross.

‘Eh, three.” Sherlock tilts his head in such a way that says he doesn’t believe her and he’s definitely right. John can smell the spike in her scent as she gets angry, the nice citrus notes turning rancid as her mood becomes foul.

“He’s _not_ gay. Why d’you have to spoil ...? He’s **_not_.**” She says adamantly.

Sherlock snorts and John just wants to kick him with how rude he’s being. “With that level of personal grooming?” He questions.

John comes up behind Sherlock and puts out a bit of his own calming scent, hoping it will calm down Molly and maybe help the detective ease up on the deductions he can tell are about to come out of his mouth. Betas sexuality has always been held to a different standard than Alphas and Omegas, they only have one gender and that is the one that matters. With male Omegas it is completely expected of them to get with another primary gendered male because there is no other way for them to produce offspring. But Betas are supposed to pair off male to female for making babies and going against that especially since the wars has been seen as negative. Everyone is supposed to be trying to bring back the population according to the government, there’s no time to waste with non-productive sex.

“Because he puts a bit of product in his hair? _I_ put product in my hair.” He says in defense of the guy. He crosses his arms.

“You _wash_ your hair. There’s a difference. No-no – tinted eyelashes; clear signs of taurine cream around the frown lines; those tired clubber’s eyes. Then there’s his underwear.” John can’t say he didn’t notice the extremely obvious yellow color.

“His _underwear_?” Molly says.

“Visible above the waistline – _very_ visible; very particular brand.” Sherlock grabs for the dish that Jim had knocked over. “That, plus the _extremely_ suggestive fact that he just left his number under this dish here ...” John turns away because as usual Sherlock is right but he’s going about it all the wrong way. “and I’d say you’d better break it off now and save yourself the pain.” John doesn’t get a look at her but from the upset smell and the fact that she runs off without a word, he knows he’s going to have to maybe talk to her later, or at least get Sherlock to apologize.

“Charming. Well done.” The Alpha says sarcastically.

“Just saving her time. Isn’t that kinder?” John’s annoyed that he sounds like he really thinks he was doing the correct thing at the moment. Maybe he’s doing it precisely because he had warned himself off John and then let him in, only to be hurt.

“Kinder? No, no, Sherlock. _That_…wasn’t kind.” He glares at Sherlock. “We need to talk.” He tries to start but the detective cuts him off.

“No, _we_ have a case to solve.” He lightly grabs one of the shoes and moves it closer to John. “Go on, then.” He says.

“Huh?” John not understanding what Sherlock is asking of him and also a little upset that they are still ignoring what happened.

“You know what I do. Off you go.” The detective crosses his arms, waiting for him.

John shakes his head. “No.” Looks at his watch, knows they are on a time limit.

“Go on.” Sherlock tries to encourage him.

“I’m not gonna stand here so you can humiliate me while I try and disseminate ...”

“An outside eye, a second opinion. It’s very useful to me.” And that sounds way too much like what John was telling Sherlock he needed, when he said against the door that he needed to reexamine the evidence.

“Yeah right…” John can’t help but be skeptical, as if he could really be of any help.

“Really.” Sherlock insists. They stare each other down and the Omega doesn’t look away, doesn’t cower under the gaze of a true Alpha. It’s once again, something that makes John blood run hot for the detective, wanting to show him _exactly_ why he should look away, but he loves the push back anyway.

“Fine.” John turns to the shoes, picking one up and looking at the other shoe as if it looks any different. “I dunno…they’re just a pair of shoes. _Trainers._” He corrects himself, adding on the specific type of shoe.

“Good.” Sherlock says, picking up his phone that John doesn’t remember laying down.

“Umm ... they’re in good nick. I’d say they were pretty new ... except the sole has been well-worn, so the owner must have had them for a while. Uhhh…they’re very eighties – probably one of those retro designs.” He continues moving the shoes around in his hands, trying to find anything that’s unusual about them. He wants to impress Sherlock with how much he’s learned and paid attention to him over the last two months, wants to show that he’s growing and maybe that will tell the detective that he cares.

“You’re on _sparkling_ form. What else?”

“Well, they’re quite big, so a first gender man. There’s no discernable scent on them so could be any secondary gender, though I’d wager he’s a Beta…but...”

“But?” Sherlock prompts, obviously wanting John to dig further.

“But… But there’s traces of a name inside in felt-tip. Adults…don’t write their names inside their shoes, so these belonged to a kid. So, unpresented maybe.” He looks him straight in the eye, staring intently.

“Excellent. What else?”

“Uh.” John takes one last look at the shoe, but there’s nothing else to really say about it. “That’s it.” He looks hopeful, maybe he got something right.

“That’s it?”

The Alpha nods, while licking his lips nervously. “How’d I do?”

“Well, John. _Really_ well… I mean, you missed almost everything of importance, but, um, you know...” He holds out his palm and John deposits the shoe into his hand. Then braces himself for another onslaught of deductions.

“The owner loved these. Scrubbed them clean, whitened them where they got discolored. Changed the laces three ... no, _four_ times. Even so, there are traces of his flaky skin where his fingers have come into contact with them, so he suffered from eczema. Shoes are well-worn, more so on the inside, which means the owner had weak arches. British-made, twenty years old.”

“Twenty years?” John can’t help but question, watching as Sherlock pulls something up on his phone.

“They’re not retro. They’re original.” The detective holds up his phone showing off a picture of the same shoes. “Limited edition: two blue stripes, nineteen eighty-nine.”

“But there’s still mud on them. They look new.” John says, completely confused.

“Someone’s kept them that way. Quite a bit of mud caked on the soles. Analysis shows it’s from Sussex, with London mud overlaying it.” Sherlock sounds oddly thrilled at this.

“How do you know?”

“Pollen. Clear as a map reference to me.” He points to the computer which had finished earlier before they were interrupted. Now that he thinks back, Molly didn’t even get to talk about the case.

“South of the river, too. So, the kid who owned these trainers came to London from Sussex twenty years ago and left them behind.”

“So what happened to him?” The idea that a kid has been potentially missing for 20 years sends a chill down his back. He could have been taken, along with the shoes and just kept locked away. He imagines something like that happening to Iris and he has to hold back a growl.

“Something bad.” He looks at John. “He _loved_ those shoes, remember. He’d never leave them filthy. Wouldn’t leave them go unless he had to. So, a child with big feet gets...” Sherlock stops talking, the room suddenly silent. John thinks he’s just taking a moment but when he looks over the detective is staring into the distance as a sigh leaves his mouth. “Oh.”

“What?” John almost misses the what Sherlock says.

“Carl Powers.” The Omega’s voice unusually light as he whispers.

“Sorry, who?”

“Carl Powers, John.” He says more forcefully.

“What is it?” The detectives unblinking stare and complete mood and scent change are making him nervous.

“It’s where I began. We need to go.” Sherlock is immediately collecting everything around him from the case and John does his best to keep up, bagging the shoes and rushing after the Omega as he dashes from the room. They’ve clearly made a break in the case and John can’t help but smile that his small bit of help is what nudged Sherlock toward the answer. Maybe a second look at things _is_ what was needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please let me know what you think by adding a comment and I will do my best to get back to everyone.


	8. Similar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mysterious bomber continues on with his plans...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo! I hope everyone is staying safe in light of the COVID-19 outbreak. To entertain you if only for a little while, please enjoy the next chapter as we continue on with The Great Game.
> 
> As always my work is completely based on fiction and I do not condone the various behaviors portrayed in it in real life, this is all just fantasy. Please feel free to point out inaccuracies and spelling errors and I will change them.

On the way back to the flat, sitting beside each other like every other time in a tiny London cab, Sherlock tells John about a suspicious case from when he was a teen. It was the case that got the detective started onto this path, the one that led him to this very moment. A case that he had been unable to solve, due both to his age and the lack of care given to him by the police. John can tell by the way he describes it that the unsolved case still taunts him, is probably the whole reason Sherlock is the way he is. He hasn’t said it, but solving the cases doesn’t seem to be all about escaping boredom, it seems as if he wants a resolution for people, for everyone to walk away from the crime knowing and believing that there is nothing more to find and it’s all been settled. John doesn’t ask if that’s what drives the detective, if he does actually care about the people. It’s not the right moment to ask, what with Sherlock being closed off to him right now.

Once they get back to the flat, Sherlock becomes a flurry of movement as he lays out new information, gathers old data and sequesters himself away in the kitchen, closing off the stained glass doors which separate the sitting room. John paces a little but eventually has to sit and rest. He fears for the women on the phone but the only sleep he’s gotten since he woke up in the middle of the night to Iris crying, was the nap after breeding at the clinic. A virgin knotting takes considerable time to release and he’d been able to catch a strange sort of relaxed not quiet sleep as he snuggled up against Jeremy. Of course what happened right after probably negated all those good feelings. Hands separating him from Jeremy, John’s fist on fire after colliding with someone’s face. The screams of the Omega begging for his Alpha, ringing loudly in his ears.

John can tell he slipped up thinking about what happened at the clinic because Iris comes over to him concerned. The young Omega had been in the kitchen reviewing information right beside Sherlock and John had smiled as he watched them and left them to their devices earlier. The Alpha is sure now that the two have at least talked, that Sherlock followed what he said and is now only angry with him, having forgave Iris. Not that he should be forgiving anyone for anything.

“Are you okay, John?” Iris asks, concerned. He can see that Iris is lightly sniffing the room, trying not to be obvious about it, and the Alpha has to admit that even he can smell his own anxious scent in the air. It’s likely making Iris anxious as well, a heavy reminder that his scent affects them just as much as they affect him.

“Fine. Just worried about the women. Feeling a little useless at the moment.” He hasn’t ever lied to Iris, not until this moment, not until he felt that everything he did at the clinic this morning needed to be hidden. It isn’t something that the Omegas need to know about, it just needs to fall to the past now, needs to die. John will take in all the hurt his Alpha causes, won’t let them see that he’s weak.

“Alright.” Iris seems put out. John knows the teen knows he lied. He might as well have just flat out said it. Could have just said that he was worried about something that he was never going to discuss and maybe that would be better, maybe not. He chose what he chose and now he will live with it. Iris walks back to the kitchen.

John manages an hour of sleep before he’s woken up by his phone. Mycroft is messaging him now about the missing thumb drive. The Alpha manages to get up and have a good stretch before opening the glass doors.

“You’re brother’s texting me now.” He announces to Sherlock, who’s shuffling papers with a scowl on his face. John’s not that surprised the Beta, Omega maybe…still working on that one, has gotten his number.

“Must be a root canal.” Sherlock says and Iris beside him smiles knowingly.

“He did say something about ‘National Importance.’” John says, putting his phone away.

“How quaint.” The detective says and this time Iris looks up to look at John, analyzing him with the same look that Sherlock often turns on him, when he needs more information.

“What is?”

“You are. Queen and country.” Sherlock says it in the bored tone but John knows he’s mocking him.

“You can’t just ignore it.” John states.

“I’m not ignoring it. Putting my best man onto it right now.” This draws a bit of confusion from Iris, but John just smiles and folds his arms happy to have made progress. That is until Sherlock informs him that it’s John himself who is going to meet with Mycroft. The smile fades quickly, but soon enough the Alpha is dressing in his old interviewing suit and catching a cab to Mycroft’s office.

\-----

Lying to Mycroft goes just about as well as it did with Iris. The other can clearly tell that John is trying to deceive them, but just like the interaction with Iris, he isn’t called out on it. As much as he wants to think about that, he has more pressing matters, like gathering the few new bits and pieces of information that Mycroft will give him.

While he writes down everything, John finds that he’s very intrigued by Mycroft’s office. It looks exactly like he would expect of the man, but the smell is what is throwing him off. It smells clean, like the clinics, scent neutralizing chemicals were clearly used but it also smelled faintly of scent blockers, like the ones used on A Study in Pink, but not the cheap ones that people buy at the store just too lightly mask it. No this is something completely different, something that is stronger and clearly being used to hide, not just mask. The slight smell of rosemary hits his nose when Mycroft suddenly has pain in his jaw, the root canal Sherlock had been talking about clearly evident, showing how correct the detective was in his deduction.

John feels that the case is nowhere closer to being solved, but his understanding of Mycroft and Sherlock’s relationship has sure changed. Mycroft isn’t just a Beta older brother who took care of his younger sibling. He’s an Omega in hiding who wasn’t able to also hide his little brother, who ended up getting hurt. Perhaps it’s not as simple as a sibling rivalry, but something deeper.

John feels some pride as he walks out of the stuffy plain brown office, he’s learning to observe more and it feels good.

\-----

When the Alpha gets back to the flat, he’s happy to see that Mrs. Hudson is bringing up a few small sandwiches and tea. Iris grabs one smiling before Sherlock slams his hands down on both sides of his microscope, sending Mrs. Hudson scurrying from the room. John frowns at that, he hadn’t even gotten to say hello. He was really starting to like the elderly Omega, they would watch the television sometimes when the scent of the flat got to be too overwhelming, or one of Sherlock’s experiments became too much for John to stand.

“What are you going on about?” The Alpha questions.

“Clostridium botulinum!” Sherlock yells. Clearly it’s important but John just stares at him blankly before looking toward Iris, who is completely still with the finger sandwich halfway to his open mouth. He clearly understood what his dad just yelled and is thinking it over in his own head.

“Sorry what?” John finally manages to say.

“It’s one of the deadliest poisons on the planet!” Sherlock’s eyes are wide, he’s trying to convey to John using just his eyes how important this is, but unlike Iris, John isn’t understanding what the Omega is trying to tell him.

“Carl Powers!” Sherlock tries again.

“Oh…” It takes a moment but the word poison finally sticks out in his mind. “Wait, are you saying he was murdered?” The flash of something resembling joy crosses over the detective’s face, as John finally understands what he’s trying to say.

“Remember the shoelaces?” Sherlock says getting up and hurriedly going round the table to where all the pieces of the disassembled shoes have been hung up. Iris has finally moved, coming back online and immediately shoving the entire sandwich in his mouth before turning around to watch his dad explain everything about the poison and the cream. John watches and does his best to follow along, asking appropriate questions and even correctly answering Sherlock’s lead in questions.

As the detective types in the answer to the puzzle onto his website, John remembers once again why he feels so attached to the Omega. It isn’t just the scent, it’s this. It’s the way his brain puts all the strange little pieces of seemingly random information to use, to help people in his own obscure way.

After the crying woman calls telling them where she is, a simple phone call to Lestrade is all that’s needed from them. The three of them sit back, the excitement over with, for now. They can all tell this ordeal is far from finished, but they will have to wait it out. To John’s surprise and delight, Sherlock practically inhales the other sandwiches, which is more than he’s seen him eat in a week. It helps him relax a bit, lets him breathe a little easier knowing that the detective isn’t going to pass out in the middle of the flat from starvation.

They’re all silent in the kitchen for a while, each in their own thoughts until John yawns, reminding everyone that it’s late, the sun having set even before John got home. Iris follows with his own yawn.

“Good night.” John says, getting up. Sherlock doesn’t acknowledge him, but Iris does in a small voice, as if he’s afraid that he shouldn’t be speaking with the Alpha. It pains John to see him look so put out, as if he’s being monitored for any bad behavior and he could be punished again for stepping out of line. But he’s not Iris’s dad and Sherlock hasn’t talked to him yet, so with a small reassuring smile, he leaves to his room.

His bed feels too large and lonely when he finally lays down. There’s only a sheet left on his bed, as he had left his comforter with Iris after they washed it all. He’s mildly cold without it, but going downstairs to ask for it feels weird. He rolls around in the bed, trying to get more comfortable, but despite how tired he is, he suddenly feels restless. Replaying everything that’s happened in the last 24 hours, questioning if this is the start of the end of his relationship with the Omegas.

A small knock on his door startles him as he hadn’t even heard anyone come up the stairs. “John?” It’s Iris’s voice, small and questioning.

“Come in.” John gets up, confused as to why Iris would be up here.

Iris opens the door and looks around, but doesn’t enter. In his hands he holds John’s comforter. He probably could hear John moving around through the floor. The Alpha forgets sometimes that his floor is their ceiling in their bedroom.

“I brought you your comforter. Thought you might want it…” Iris holds it out, still not stepping into his room. He has his head down, looking at the floor instead of at John.

John strides across the room, taking the comforter in his arms. He can smell instantly that it hasn’t been washed, still saturated in Iris’s scent from when he slept in it. The Alpha is a little surprised by that.

“I…thought it would help you sleep.” Iris finally looks up and he has a small glint of mischief in his eyes. John almost misses it before the Omega’s eyes have moved away as he turns around to leave.

“Hey. Wait…Iris.” The Omega freezes for a moment before turning back around slowly, suddenly shy like he thought that would be the end of it all. “Have you talked to your dad? Are you both okay…I mean with each other…that is.” John feels strange asking, but he can’t let it go. Needs to know that the Omegas are fine.

Iris smiles brightly, his eyes shining with kindness and sympathy. “We’re fine John. We’re _all _fine. You’re overthinking everything.” Iris steps up, crowding into John’s space, reminding the Alpha that the teen is already as tall as him. John doesn’t back up, the instinct to stand his ground always there, but he does freeze unsure what Iris is doing. The teen moves slow, tilting his head making sure they don’t touch at all, barely an inch between their chests as he leans in to press a light kiss to John’s cheek. “Go you bed John. We’ll talk about it soon.” The Omega pulls back, smiling before turning and leaving down the stairs, barely making a sound.

John stands stunned for several moments, the kiss completely unexpected and confusing to the say the least. He finally closes the door when reality sets back in as a shiver runs up his spine. It’s bloody cold but now he has his comforter and it smells like Sherlock and Iris. It’s probably the best thing he’s ever been given and instead of laying it on top of the sheet he just immediately rolls himself into a burrito, wrapping the entire thing around him in one swift motion. The smell of it washes away all the pain and hurt of Jeremy and lets him focus back on the two Omegas he has a real connection with, the ones he wants to be with.

\-----

John doesn’t remember falling asleep, but waking up warm and surrounded by Omega scent is the best. The only thing better would be to have the Omegas here as well.

While Iris had told him not to worry, his awake brain wasn’t really into that. As he made a large breakfast, hoping to tempt Sherlock into more food, he mulled over the possible ending of his relationship with the Omegas. He would obviously have to move out and find his own place. The money from the clinic would be enough to cover all the overdue bills but he’s _never_ going back there even if he desperately needed more, no chance. His thoughts wonder into darker avenues as he realizes he could always take his gun to himself like he originally thought. ‘Sherlock would find that too boring though, should at least make it interesting.’ He tells himself as he scrambles the eggs. He could try to make it look like a staged suicide so Sherlock would have to figure out that it was just John all along. Probably find that boring too. Need to find something good that would keep the detective occupied for a while. Maybe rent a hot air balloon and hang himself from it before crashing it into Buckingham Palace, make it seem like a political statement about military veterans.

John doesn’t realize he’s weirdly smiling to himself and humming cheerily as he contemplates the best way to kill himself that would keep Sherlock preoccupied. He should take on another mob, but a Russian one this time instead of Chinese. If he beat them, then he did good for the world and if not Sherlock would take them down after, so a win win scenario right?

“What are you doing?” He’s startled out of his weird thoughts when the detective himself walks into the room, blue silk robe hung loosely around his thin frame. John frowns at first, the sight of how skinny his Omega is, his Alpha whimpering that he’s not providing for his mate. John shoves the thoughts away as he looks at the big breakfast he’s made for just that reason.

“Ah, the great Sherlock Holmes, stumped by the daily activities of the common man. What a sight to behold.” John quips, smiling as he sets a large plate of food in front of the detective, who stares at it then back at the Alpha. “Well tuck in. It won’t bite you. In fact, you are the one who should be doing the biting.” John has no idea where the sudden mood switch has come from, he feels all over the place emotionally, but is determined to be his best Alpha self while all this conflict is going on.

“I don’t eat when there is a case on.” Sherlock says but sits in front of the plate, eyeing it with mild interest.

“Ah. But that’s where you’re wrong.”

“I’m what?”

“Wrong. You haven’t got a case on, you solved the immediate puzzle last night and you _even_ ate right after.” John says matter of fact. “Now eat your breakfast before it’s cold. Made it just for you and I will not have you leave this house until you’re done, even if I have to shove it down your throat myself.” Sherlock raises an eyebrow at that and John realizes how that could be taken. “You know what I mean.” He half smirks even as he tries to will his eyes to scold the detective. They haven’t discussed the misunderstanding since this new case and here they are…bantering?...flirting? John realizes that by making food he could once again be seen as courting and he hates that simply making food for someone else can be seen as an intimate act when he's just trying to care for them.

John sits down with his own plate of food, he has a feeling that the mysterious bomber isn’t going to let up for long and he’s going to need all the strength he can get as he chases Sherlock around. Surprisingly, the detective says no more but instead picks up his fork and takes a bite of the eggs. He tastes them, then nods his head in approval before digging in more enthusiastically, which really just means he puts a little more on each forkful than he did on the first assessment bite.

With Sherlock and John both fed, Iris sleeping, and a dirty kitchen due to John’s insistence of making breakfast, they head down to Scotland Yard to speak with Lestrade.

The Alpha seems surprised, yet pleased to see them with a small smile, or at least as pleased as John’s ever seen him, which considering the Alpha’s generally neutral expression, isn’t saying much. Lestrade goes on about the case, as John sits drinking it in and Sherlock paces about the office.

“Elegant.” Sherlock says by the back wall. John just barely makes it out and sighs heavily as he repeats the word. He asks it more as a question, but knows the answer already. The detective is enjoying this, more than he should obviously since people can potentially get hurt, which puts a small damper on his ‘Sherlock likes to help people’ theory. Strange contradictory man, wants people in danger for the puzzle and excitement but also clearly wants to help people solve their mysteries and have closure.

John barely registers Lestrade asking why anyone would do this, when a message alert of the pink phone goes off. The two Alphas look over as Sherlock pulls the phone from his pocket.

“You have one new message.” The automatic voice says before a series of Greenwich pips, almost identical to the first message, except…

“Four pips.” John points out.

“First test passed, it would seem. Here’s the second.” Sherlock holds out the phone face up and the two Alphas stand up to look down on the new photo. This time instead of a fireplace it’s a car with a clearly identifiable license plate number. “It’s abandoned, wouldn’t you say?”

“I’ll see if it’s been reported.” Lestrade is on his phone before he’s even finished his sentence.

At the same time detective Donovan walks in. “Freak, it’s for you.” She says with a phone in her hand.

John eyes her but knows she’s harmless, so he sits back as he once again is useless toward the case. Bored after barely a moment of listening to Lestrade and hoping to escape the leather smell he watches Sherlock through the glass wall of the office. His back is turned but he can see him talking on the phone. Something about the way Sherlock is standing has the hairs on his neck raising. He leaves the room and listens to the detective’s conversation.

“And you’ve stolen another voice, I presume.” John’s blood runs cold. That can only mean that another hostage like the crying women has been taken. Tied up with explosives and forced to talk to them, but where they likely won’t know until Sherlock solves the puzzle.

“Who are you?” Sherlock tries. “What’s that noise?” John stays quiet, but he can’t hear anything on the other side of the phone and Sherlock has stopped breathing to listen. After less than a minute, Sherlock lowers the phone, having said nothing more. Just the tenseness of his shoulders says he isn’t happy about what he heard on the other side of the line.

Lestrade comes out of his office happy. “We’ve found it.” He announces as he rushes off.

\-----

“You smell like us.” Sherlock says in the taxi, lightly enough that John almost doesn’t hear him.

“Iris gave me back my comforter. I leant it to him. Didn’t have time to wash it. Bit too tired, really.” To be honest, he had intended to shower this morning, but Iris told him to not overthink and he spent so much time this morning overthinking his own potential death that he wanted to keep the scent as long as possible.

“Normally an Alpha will only allow the Omega they are currently courting to scent them, whether by an exchange of clothing, or if already in a more committed relationship, by rubbing their scent gland together.” It sounds as if Sherlock is reading from a book and knowing his knowledge it most certainly is exactly that. “The second set of scent exchange is considered more intimate and is often used to initiate a mating.”

John sets his jaw tight. Sherlock is calling him out for his behavior, strangely at a time when he should be thinking of the case, not that there are any clues yet for him to analyze. He takes a few calming breaths and thinks before answers. “You are correct. _Normally_ a scenting is supposed to be reserved for a potentially mating couple and yet I have recently seen it used as a comforting device by an unlikely pair. Family members in fact, which intrigued me and helped me understand that while certain things are considered “traditional” or “normal”, those very same traditions can be changed or different in certain contexts. For example, I personally used another “traditionally intimate” action of marking to calm two different Omegas, both of whom are still, as of yet, untouched by myself even though I was in the position to do so. But the goal of calming them down was fully achieved and I have not further marked either of them as neither have needed it, nor have I started an intimate enough relationship with either to warrant such action.” John clamps his jaw fully shut, but is proud of himself by the end at how well put together it all sounds and how calm he kept his voice. He continues to look out the window with a now silent Sherlock the whole way to the abandoned car.

He and Sherlock are out of the taxi at the same time and walking up to the crime scene which the police have already taped off. Lestrade and his team are always getting there faster with the lights and sirens. John actually wonders why Sherlock hates to take the police cars when it would bring him to the crime scenes much faster. Lestrade is off and talking to Sherlock right as they duck under the tape and for some reason detective Donovan has decided to take an interest in him again, just like the first case. She at least waits until Sherlock is preoccupied with the car before she talks.

“You’re still hanging round him.” She’s clearly curious, but John isn’t sure if it’s the drama she’s getting off on or if she might actually believe she’s doing him a favor by warning him.

“Yeah, well...” It’s a non-committal answer he used to give to his sister sometimes. One that to him means ‘I don’t want to talk about this.’ But Donovan doesn’t seem to notice or care that he’s not really answering her.

“Opposites attract, I suppose.” The statement seems odd considering she knows next to nothing about him. In fact he almost ends up laughing since the first time she warned him off saying Sherlock would be the one to drop bodies, it was actually himself who killed someone, bit ironic really. Of course she didn’t know that and never would.

He sighs heavily. “No, we’re not—” He wishes but she doesn’t need to know that either.

“You should get yourself a hobby – stamps, maybe. Model trains. Safer.” She says nodding as she keeps walking toward the car. John stays back, watching from the rear of the car, standing at parade rest. He watches as Sherlock tells them they need to get a sample of blood to the lab and he grins internally when he sees Lestrade make Donovan do it with just a bit of Alpha intimidation in his eyes.

He’s not there long before Sherlock has moved on from the car and is over to the wife of the potential victim. He’s initially confused by the detective’s sudden lying but then guesses quickly that she’s a suspect, so he acts casual as Sherlock fake cries about how he was a friend of the missing man. The conversation is less than a few sentences and yet the detective walks away with his signature coat twirling flair, clearly happy with the outcome.

“Why did you lie to her?” John questions as they duck under the police tape.

“People don’t like telling you things, but they love to contradict you. Past tense, did you notice?” Sherlock takes off his gloves as he walks in long strides.

“Sorry, what?”

“I referred to her husband in the past tense. She joined in. Bit premature, they’ve only just found the car.” The detective wipes away the fake tears he was able to shed.

“You think she murdered her husband?”

“Definitely not. That’s not a mistake a murderer would make.”

“I see. No, I don’t. What am I seeing?” John barely looks over at Donovan talking to an officer as they walk past. But she notices him and turns around.

“Fishing!” The Beta yells. “Try fishing.”

John stops and turns around eyeing her smiling widely, like she’s won something. The disgusting smirk telling him that she thinks herself superior to himself and Sherlock, as if her being ‘normal’ makes her a better person. He squares his jaw and sharpens his eyes, his scent spiking before walking back toward her. She’s actually just a bit taller than him as he gets up in her space, but as soon as her and the other officer’s noses pick up his overpowering scent their heads bow to the Alpha.

“Think you’re being funny, yeah?” He growls out lowly.

Donovan keeps her head down, not moving a muscle. She may be an officer of the law and thus supposed to be able to handle and calm hostile situations, but her biology renders her docile, even as she likely is protesting the treatment in her own head. John hates using his Alpha to influence people, he avoids it at all costs, but in this moment he doesn’t care, she deserves to be put in her place.

“I don’t believe I asked for your opinion, nor do I believe I _ever_ want to hear it again. You think it’s cool to hate on things and people that are different from you, but it’s not. It’s really not. It’s _boring_.” John’s scent has wafted on the breeze and he can see in his peripheral vision that others are bowing their heads in response. Except for one whom he assumes is Lestrade, which starts walking over toward him quickly. “We’re all here to do a job, to help people. Not to have a pissing contest about who solves the crimes or how. Got it?” He asks.

Lestrade has reached them, his own leather scent heavy but surprisingly with a calming, not angry undertone to it. John expected Lestrade to get physical since he was clearly just controlling and getting aggressive with one of his officers. “Alright, what’s this about?”

John doesn’t take his eyes off Donovan and stands there a moment longer waiting for a response. Unexpectedly, he gets one in the form of a short nod.

Satisfied with the answer, he turns to Lestrade with a light smile on his face. “Oh, nothing. Just having a small chat with the detective. Ah. Right, I’ll be off. Case to be solved and all that. Yep.” Lestrade gives him an exasperated look that says he’s a little disappointed in John, but completely understands why he did it. John figures he’s had to deal with her for a lot longer, so he knows.

With a nod toward Lestrade and a quick turn, he walks to a frozen Sherlock. The Omega’s expression is one of observation, just one of the many John has categorized over the weeks. John knows why he did it, knows that Sherlock wouldn’t want him fighting his battles, likely doesn’t care even the slightest about Donovan’s hate for him, but John does. But it was more for Donovan than anyone else to be honest. John has taken worse from his sister for years and never reacted, Sherlock himself would just snip back occasionally at the Beta, but if John called her out on it. Put everything she was doing into a different perspective. She might just change for the better, which could help them all solve crimes together as a team.

Sherlock walks with him to the cab and they’re off again.

\-----

‘Congratulations to Ian Monkford on his relocation to Columbia.’ Sherlock types into the computer. They’d been all around over the last few hours. To the company Janus Cars who rented the car to ‘victim’, then Sherlock to the lab to do some testing, while John went to a local cafe for a quick meal which he inhaled, before giving the final findings to Lestrade at the station. Now finally back at home and the mystery solved, they sit around the table, telling Iris what’s been happening. The little Omega soaking it all in, his attention never wavering.

“Presumably you have three more to solve.” John says after they finish. “What’d you think will happen after you solve them?”

Sherlock steeples his hands under his chin in one of his thinking poses. He hadn’t told John about the phone call he received while he was alone in the lab. The bomber had given him an extra clue, not that he needed it, he had already seen through the Beta who owns Janus Cars, knew he was a two faced liar. But what really struck him was how the bomber said they were made for each other and alluded to the fact that they would be talking and possibly meeting soon. He’s gotten plenty of admirers over the years, from Betas like Molly’s boyfriend yesterday to Omegas like Molly herself, and now a second Alpha in the form of one John Watson, who sits looking at him for an answer to the question he asked. Sherlock fully stares at the Alpha, admiring him with his slightly greying blond hair and unassuming looks. Is it because the bomber is an Alpha that he thinks they were _made_ for each other, implying some sexual lock and key nonsense, or is it because of his mind and the statement doesn’t go deeper than simply “I’m bored, you’re bored, but together we can entertain each other.”

“We shall see.” The detective finally answers.

\-----

John decides that making breakfast two days in a row is too much, so when no call comes in from the pink phone, he announces to the Omegas that he’s going to a diner for some breakfast. To his astonishment Sherlock says he’s coming with him and Iris asks to be included. The cab ride over feels a tad tense. Sherlock usually sits on the other side of the vehicle, they almost never end up touching. But with the three of them crammed in, he ends up with the detective and Iris both leaned up against him because for some unknown reason they’ve put him in the middle. He had tried to let Sherlock in as Iris bounded over to the other side, but as he looks between them, he can tell that both of them like to stare out at the world. They look so stupidly similar as they do it that if he didn’t know which one of them was on either side, he could get them confused.

Seated at breakfast, he and Iris order food while Sherlock doesn’t even pay attention to the nice Beta girl who takes their order. John orders him tea, hoping he’ll at least drink it with some cream. They had all been silent up until now, but Iris decides it’s been enough and announces that he’s going to change his major at University. He wants to major now in Forensic science and pursue a similar detective path of his father, though he feels the formal education could allow him more wiggle room than Sherlock usually gets with the police. His statements are met with enthusiasm from both his father and John, causing the younger Omega to stare at his lap shyly.

Food arrives and scarfing it down would be the most satisfying thing about this day, if not for the few sips of tea he sees Sherlock manage to drink. Iris is off to the side, daintily eating his own breakfast of French toast, syrup dripping off each piece. He almost wants to ask if Iris would be content with just drinking the syrup, there’s so much of it.

“Feeling better?” The detective says to the two of them.

“Yes. You realize we’ve hardly stopped for breath since this thing started?” Surprised the bomber let us sleep to be honest.” Iris nods his head.

“Has it occurred to you —”

“Probably.” Sherlock says bluntly, causing Iris to snicker into his hand.

John levels the two of them with a look that says he’s serious. “No – has it occurred to you that the bomber’s playing a game with you? The envelope; breaking into the other flat; the dead kid’s shoes – it’s all meant for _you_.”

The detective smirks. “Yes, I know.” Sherlock had thought of it, it was exciting at first knowing that the puzzles were for him, but now he worries that the bomber is going to target John and possibly even Iris as well. If they know him well enough that they can see his boredom, then clearly they know that John and he are…well something and potentially they may have found out about his relationship with Iris. It makes his blood run cold to think that his pup could be taken away from him because of what they’re doing and what they’ve already done. That the knowledge could be used against him in this cat and mouse game. But he keeps quiet about his worry. The first mystery had nothing to do with either of the two besides the boy being a similar age to Iris and second only had the weakest link of ‘the two faced god’, which he had internally for a moment thought of John in that context before getting back to the case.

“Is it him, then? Moriarty?” John remembers how Sherlock told him about the cabbie’s final word. The name behind the seemingly senseless killings. With the pink phone having returned, and the strange nature of the first two puzzles, the Alpha couldn’t help but connect it to the mysterious hidden man.

“Perhaps.” Sherlock smiles as he says it.

The pink phone, which has become a constant object in their life, never more than a foot away from the detective, chimes with a message alert. Sherlock had barely taken his eyes off it since he placed it on the table top, his fingers tapping the table, itching to get the next puzzle. He quickly unlocks the phone and a series of pips can be heard, along with a picture of an old blonde woman who is smiling. Sherlock let’s Iris take a look but then flips the phone around to John.

“That could be anybody.”

“Well, it _could_ be, yeah. Lucky for you, I’ve been more than a little unemployed.” John looks to the small television that is currently off.

“How d’you mean?”

“Lucky for you that when Iris is an Uni and you’re off…wherever you are, Mrs Hudson and I watch far too much telly.” The Alpha gets up and finds the little remote control, turning on the television and flicking through the channels until he finds what he’s looking for. He’s sat and watched the show many times with the Old Omega, enjoying how much excitement she seems to get from it. He found that hanging around her gave him a chance to breathe sometimes, her muted scent not over powering his nose and she didn’t seem to have visitors, so it seemed mutually beneficial. It even seemed like she relaxed in his scent when he was around. She didn’t make it obvious but John could tell she found it soothing. He had made sure to put out more scent near her door and in the hallway, claiming the building itself as his territory and not just the flat. She was becoming a piece of his family too, he could see why Sherlock and Iris liked her.

Before John can even sit down, the pink phone is ringing and the detective scoops it up. He gets back and Sherlock gives him a worried look as he sits back down.

“Why are you doing this?” Sherlock says into the phone. Both Iris and John stare intently, wishing they could hear the person on the other end.

When the detective puts down the phone, he shakes his head, signaling that he got no answer to his question. They all look back to the television, to see the last bits of the lady and her show, before the news pops up talking about the sudden death of the TV personality.

\-----

Sherlock has never taken Iris along on his adventures besides the night out at the Chinese circus. He participated in plenty of research in cases, searching the web and books, helping with experiments on body parts, when he was younger he would have to stay behind the police lines. But now that he’s expressed interest in taking it further, Sherlock decides to take him along today for at least some of the investigation part.

Lestrade seems confused to see the other Holmes along with them, but doesn’t comment, letting them in to see the body of the Omega, Connie Prince. They gather around the table and as much as he wants to solve the case, Sherlock can’t help but watch Iris as he gets to see his first dead body. The teen doesn’t seem grossed out at all, his eyes show a hint of sadness but he’s also already observing the body, taking in what’s happened to her.

“Very popular. She was going places.” Lestrade says.

“Not any more. So: dead two days. According to one of her staff, Raoul de Santos, she cut her hand on a rusty nail in the garden. Nasty wound. Tetanus bacteria enters the bloodstream… good night Vienna.”

“I suppose.” John says, leaning over the body to see the cut on her hand.

“Something’s wrong with this picture.” Sherlock says, his voice dripping with suspicion.

“Eh?” Lestrade makes a questioning noise, not sure what the detective means.

“Can’t be as simple as it seems, otherwise the bomber wouldn’t be directing us towards it. Something’s wrong.” John and Iris have started circling the body like a couple of vultures, only they’re looking for clues instead of a meal. Sherlock looks up and down the body as they do this, all of them focusing intently on the dead women. After a minute he gets out his magnifier and starts looking more intently at the wound on her hand, claw marks on her arms and little pin pricks on her face.

“John?” Sherlock’s voice is deep as he addresses the Alpha.

“Hmm.”

“The cut on her hand: it’s deep; would have bled a lot, right?” Sherlock questions.

“Yeah.” John nods. Knows this is the moment he needs to pay attention to because Sherlock is guiding him toward the answer.

“But the wound’s clean – _very_ clean, and fresh.” He puts the magnifier in his pocket. “How long would the bacteria have been incubating inside her?”

“Eight, ten days, maybe.”

Sherlock looks down at John, sees the Alpha’s eyes dart back and forth as he works his way through the information.

“The cut was made later.” John announces and Iris smiles at him, his reward for getting the correct answer.

“After she was dead?” Lestrade says, stepping back into the conversation.

“Must have been. The only question is, how did the tetanus enter the dead woman’s system?” They all look at the dead women once more, but Sherlock doubts they will get the answer here. “You want to help, right?” The detective directs his question at John.

“Of course.”

“Get Connie Prince’s background. Family history, everything. Give me data.” With a nod, John is off, rushing from the room. A soldier with a mission.

“There’s something else that we haven’t thought of.” Lestrade says as Sherlock starts to leave passing behind him, Iris still taking one last look at the body.

“Is there?” Sherlock says casually, barely slowing his pace.

“Yes. Why is he _doing_ this, the bomber?” Sherlock internally rolls his eyes because Lestrade was just repeating himself and he hadn’t given him an answer the first time either. But he doesn’t roll his eyes because it is _the_ question that has been on his mind this whole time. Motive. “If this woman’s death was suspicious, why point it out?” Lestrade walks over to where Sherlock has stopped, coming up behind him.

“Good Samaritan.” Sherlock says over his shoulder, just turning enough to acknowledge that Lestrade is close to him. Then tries to walk forward again. Up close he can smell Lestrade’s annoyed smell, the natural leather smelling burnt almost. He’s never been tempted by the Alpha’s scent, the man is merely a colleague, but the annoyed smell does get to him sometimes, making him want to run away, still skittish around Alphas after all these years. Even this one that he really does trust with his life.

“Who press-gangs suicide bombers?” The Alpha raises his voice, real Alpha power slipping in, which has Iris lightly whining and Sherlock’s whole body thumbing with energy to protect his young.

“_Bad_ Samaritan.” He gets out, knowing that Lestrade would never hurt either of them, not just because he’s a police officer but because he’s always been a sucker for Iris as he grew up. Doting on his pup because Lestrade was too career oriented to have his own family, even as he knew he likely had hundreds of his own pups all over the city from years of going to the clinics.

“I’m – I’m serious, Sherlock. Listen. I’m cutting you slack here; I’m trusting you.” He looks earnest. “But out there somewhere, some poor bastard’s covered in Semtex and is just waiting for you to solve the puzzle. So just tell me. What are we dealing with?” Sherlock notes how the last of Lestrade’s brown hair has finally gone grey, despite them being roughly the same age, just a few years difference. The caring and worry for people shortening the Alpha’s own life.

“Something new. Come Iris.” The teen finally breaks out from the spell the Alpha’s voice had and composes himself again. Rushing over to Sherlock as he once again starts walking.

“Bye Uncle Lestrade.” Iris says as he passes by.

“Yeah. Bye Eyeball.” The Alpha says, with a small smile. The old nickname from his youth makes the teen giggle as he walks out.

\-----

Back at home, Iris and Sherlock go about putting all the information they know onto the wall behind the couch, reviewing it as they go along. A large map first, followed by pictures of the dead women, pieces of evidence from the other puzzles, anything they think might be relevant.

A few hours later Lestrade shows up at the flat, looking in on their progress, which hasn’t been as much as they would have liked. John has been gone all afternoon, presumably working on getting more data, though how exactly, the Omegas aren’t sure.

“Connection, connection, connection. There _must_ be a connection.” Sherlock paces back and forth in front of the data map they made, while Iris sits reading a Connie Prince fan website, trying to get all the gossip he can. Lestrade is putting out a calming Alpha scent without realizing it, hoping it will help the frantic detective, though all it does is end up annoying them both. Iris can tell even at this distance that it’s actually doing more harm than good because it’s masking John’s pine forest scent, almost bordering on erasing it. It doesn’t matter that the courting process between the two has stalled, this is also John’s territory and another Alpha putting his scent here even unintentionally is making the Omegas a little anxious.

“Carl Powers, killed twenty years ago. The bomber _knew_ him; _admitted_ that he knew him. The bomber’s iPhone was in stationery from the Czech Republic. First hostage from Cornwall; the second from London; the third from Yorkshire, judging by her accent. What’s he doing? Working his way round the world? Showing off? ” Sherlock runs his hands through his hair.

The pink phone rings and Sherlock, ever drawn to its siren call, answers immediately, putting it on speaker phone.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you? Joining the...dots.” The old woman’s voice is harsh and frightened. She sobs as she tries to get out the words. “Three hours: boom...boom.” Her sobbing gets louder before the phone cuts out.

Sherlock and Lestrade share a look and Iris does his best to delete the sound of the women’s cry from his head. He wishes he could do it as well as his father seems to. Instead the voice is muffled in his head, like he’s standing outside of a car and she is inside, but the windows are up so he can’t make out exactly what she’s saying. He shakes his head and goes back to the fan sight where a new person has responded to his questions.

At some point Mrs. Hudson comes up with snacks again because as much as she claims she is not a caretaker for them, she also loves them dearly and worries about them. It also helps that the handsome Alpha Lestrade is in the flat as she always likes to see him. She’s standing right beside him, observing the evidence board and talking to him, something about colors when Sherlock interrupts with a video that Iris found.

The video shows an episode of Connie’s makeover show, the brother and sister are on stage talking about how pale he is after his recent vacation. Which he then claims is because it rained every day, so he got no sun. By the end of the video Connie is beating on her Beta brother’s back, getting him to remove his clothes for the camera, as they’ve been deemed unsuitable. The way the two interact with each other is strange, Sherlock can’t help but watch the video over and over.

Mrs. Hudson eventually has to leave after she runs out of excuses to continue talking to Lestrade. The Alpha’s scent has started to get worse as the minutes pass by. Iris observes him from the other side of the room, wondering why he had never done this before. Lestrade has been in his life since he can remember, yet the interactions between them were sparse. His dad tried to keep him out of the whole ‘detective’ business and that often meant that when Lestrade was in the house, Iris was banished to his room. He agrees that it wasn’t appropriate for him as a child to see murder scenes hanging up on the walls as they solved a puzzle, but he called Lestrade his uncle and yet he barely knew anything about the man. Over the years he had come to use the silly nickname and several times over the years, Sherlock had left him alone to chase a criminal, forcing Lestrade to take Iris home in his police cruiser. So, that was really all he knew, that Uncle Lestrade worked with dad and bought him ice cream when the idiot ran off forgetting that Iris couldn’t pay for the cab home. It makes his dad sound like a bad parent, but he was never left alone. Ever. He was only left when Lestrade was there, no other officers, so Iris knew it was only slightly purposeful. He wonders if dad left him alone to get him used to an Alpha, or if he was supposed to be something for Lestrade. Maybe his dad thought it would be good for both of them. He was right if it was. Eating ice cream in the police cruiser and hearing about chasing bad guys around was some of his favorite times when he was little. Maybe it was his dad’s way of showing him his world but from a different ‘better’ perspective.

“John.” Sherlock says across the room, answering his own phone. Iris listens, hoping John is coming home so he can erase some of Lestrade’s scent. “I’ll remember.” Sherlock listens intently to the phone for a few minutes, then rushes to their room, bringing with him a camera.

“I’ll be back. John thinks he might have an answer.” He kisses Iris on the top of the head and rushes out, leaving the two alone. Lestrade doesn’t really seem to notice that it’s just them, still staring at the information on the wall.

“Uncle Lestrade.” Iris gets up from John’s chair, which he’s been sitting in whenever he gets a chance, if only to soak up a little of the Alpha’s scent.

“Hmm.” Lestrade says, breaking his attention away from the wall.

“What would you think of me becoming a forensic scientist?” Iris asks, walking up to the tall Alpha.

“I thought you’re working on becoming an engineer, or something like that?”

“I was. But I like what dad does, the science part, not so much the chasing criminals part.” He smiles. “I think working with the police as perhaps an official member that can also be creative like dad, could be good. Or maybe I’ll stick with dad, who knows.”

“Oh. Well, I think you’d do really great. I mean you sort of grew up around all of this and whatever you put your mind to you’ll do succeed at.” Lestrade smiles down at the young Omega.

“Thank you Uncle. And thank you for all the times you had to look after me all these years. Buying me ice cream and taking me home.”

“Oh. C’mere.” He pulls Iris in for a big hug, wrapping one arm around his back and bringing the other up to tousle his messy curls. The Omega is stiff at first, not used to having any real contact with Lestrade, but he quickly melts and wraps his arms around his waist, hugging him back. His leather scent is nice, familiar but not even close to overpowering like John’s. “Good lad. You are smart, just like your father and without his bull headedness to boot. Whatever you decide, I’ll stand behind you alright.” He kisses the top of Iris’s head.

“Yeah. Thank you Lestrade. It means a lot.” Lestrade ruffles his hair one last time.

“Yeah well, no more mushy stuff. I have to get back to the office, see if we’ve found anything on our end. You good staying here alone.”

“I’m fine. Go be the big Alpha dog.” Iris says, giving a little half wave as Lestrade walks down the stairs.

Iris sits back in John’s chair, getting back to the gossip website. He feels really happy with his decision to switch careers. He will still always love engineering and it could even come in handy one day for a case. Who knows?

\-----

John feels like he’s getting smarter with each case he goes on. Sherlock might not be happy with what’s happened around the flat but if he can help with this case, he might just get back in his good graces enough to explain the other stuff. If he were still courting Sherlock, not that he had truly started, he could have presented his findings each time as his gifts. Usually courting gifts were small and given frequently, but Sherlock wasn’t the type to like flowers and candies, or trinkets which gleam. But tangible clues and theories behind cases, things that John would think of but the detective wouldn’t, could be invaluable.

He disguised himself as a reporter for a paper and got an interview with Kenny Prince, the Beta brother of dead women, Connie. He used his Alpha voice a little, putting in the dominance that others often like to follow. It got him in.

It doesn’t take long for him to piece together the puzzle in his mind. The brother doesn’t seem very sad about his sister’s death and the annoying hairless cat walking around would be a genius way to inject the poison into the women unknowingly. The brother gets all her money and by the way he looked and talked about the Raoul, John suspects they may have both been in on it. In fact, when he sits way too close to the Alpha, John’s instinct tells him that he’s barking up the right tree. The right, ‘I’m definitely the killer’ tree.

He's able to convince Kenny that he needs a picture and would like to get his photographer out here. It doesn’t take much more than a compliment about the lovely home and how the Beta himself would look quite handsome in the paper. He calls Sherlock, telling him to bring a camera and to pretend to be a photographer for a newspaper. Meanwhile, Kenny goes upstairs and freshens up. John snoops around a bit, but doesn’t get far as Raoul is right there. He once again falls back on a compliment about how lovely the house is and how he wanted to have a look around.

Sherlock finally arrives, John feels like it has been ages but wafting around his scent a little made the Beta very happy, so he had talked and talked, fluffing himself up like a peacock to get John’s attention. The next two minutes are a whirlwind of getting pictures of Kenny with the cat and the Alpha and Omega make their way out of the house, leaving behind a very flustered Beta.

“Yes! Ohh, yes!” John exclaims as they’re walking down the road.

“You think it was the cat. It wasn’t the cat.” Sherlock can’t help but smile. He knows John’s wrong but many people wouldn’t have had a theory like that, so the Alpha is clearly learning. Thinking outside the box, slowly becoming more than just an average mindless drone.

“What? No, yes. Yeah, it _is_. It _must_ be. It’s how they got the tetanus into her system. Its paws stink of disinfectant.” John tries to defend all the hard work he just did.

“Lovely idea.” Sherlock says, still smiling. Wanting to pull John into a kiss, but he holds off knowing they haven’t talked yet.

“No, he coated it onto the paws of her cat. It’s a new pet – bound to be a bit jumpy around her. A scratch is almost inevitable. She wouldn’t have ...”

“I thought of it the minute I saw the scratches on her arm, but it’s too random and too clever for the brother.”

“He murdered his sister for her money.” John says adamantly.

“Did he?” Sherlock questions.

John looks up at the detective. “Didn’t he?” The Alpha’s whole theory has fallen apart and Sherlock always knew that wasn’t it. Too many steps ahead, while John is lagging behind. So much for giving little courting gifts of interesting theories.

“No. It was revenge.” Sherlock says the last word with emphasis.

“Revenge? Who wanted revenge?”

“Raoul, the houseboy. He came into the Prince’s lives a few years ago. Didn’t you find it strange that the Prince’s were both unmarried and living together in the same home?” John stops in his tracks and Sherlock stops in front of him, turning around as John looks hard at the ground.

“Unmarried and living together. She had enough money they could have lived separately.” Sherlock is leading John again, giving him clues to let him travel down the path that will lead to the answer. John would never get there on his own but he has been amazing at following if told the right information.

“But they didn’t. They were together.” John looks up at Sherlock.

“Connie and Kenny. Siblings, together…like....” Sherlock raises his eyebrow, knowing that John is implying that they were like him and his son. Together, even though they shouldn’t have been.

“Raoul didn’t know about it, they hired him to be a houseboy and Kenny found himself drawn to him. He had a falling out with his sister and she made him the butt of her jokes, week in and week out on her show. A virtual bullying campaign against her former lover.” John keeps his dark eyes locked on the detective’s light ones. “She threatened to disinherit Kenny. Raoul had grown accustomed to a certain lifestyle, so...” Sherlock let’s John fill in the rest as he turns around to head toward the main road.

“No, wait, wait. Wait a second.” The detective stops and turns back around. “What about the disinfectant, then, on the cat’s claws?” Clearly John isn’t believing him fully.

“Raoul keeps a very clean house. You came through the kitchen door, saw the state of that floor, scrubbed to within an inch of its life. _You_ smell of disinfectant now. No, the cat doesn’t come into it.” Sherlock is trying to distract John now. Too afraid he’ll think the case seems too similar to the way John had put a rift between himself and Iris, even if only temporary. “Raoul’s internet records do, though. Hope we can get a cab from here.” He turns back around from John and rushes down the street, coat flapping behind him. He hears the Alpha following a moment later, though he doesn’t try to catch up to the Omega, instead only trailing after him.

They manage to flag down a cab and Sherlock directs it to a drop zone, where one of his informants has dropped off the data he needed to finish the case. Beside him, John sits looking out the window dejectedly. His lips are in a frown and his scent is tinged with a hint of burnt wood. Sherlock isn’t usually one to overthink things, he gathers answers quickly and makes decisions within seconds. But this case feels targeted directly at them. It mirrors in a strange way the relationship the three of them have found themselves in, but at the same time is slightly different. John finds them both attractive and wants to court them, while Raoul was clearly in this for the money. The houseboy doesn’t like Kenny all that much, tolerating him as a way to get into his pockets. Sadly, Connie had to die because of greed.

Sherlock hopes John doesn’t draw the same conclusions as he has. That whoever this bomber is, he knows about Iris and knows what they’ve done together and he’s willing to use that, in some, way against them. For the first time since this has all started, he’s scared.

\-----

The cab stops for less than a minute to let Sherlock pick up a package and they on their way to Scotland Yard. On the way, Sherlock looks through all the information and John continues to look out the window, not looking over for even a second at the package or Sherlock.

“Raoul de Santos is your killer. Kenny Prince’s houseboy. Second autopsy shows it wasn’t tetanus that poisoned Connie Prince – it was botulinum toxin.” Sherlock yells into the police station, as he walks in with John following right behind him. He holds up the folder and then gets close to Lestrade, laying it on the desk. “We’ve been here before. Carl Powers? Tut-tut. Our bomber’s repeated himself.” He then says as the Alpha reaches for the file.

“So how’d he do it?” Lestrade asks, picking up the file and heading for his office.

John watches on as Sherlock explains it all to the inspector, about how the houseboy has been ordering extra Botox for months, getting enough together so he could give Connie a fatal dose. Lestrade directs them to his office but John stops him.

“Hey, Sherlock. How long?” He gets in front of the detective to stop him following Lestrade.

“What?”

“How long have you known?” John says more firmly.

“Well, this one was quite simple, actually, and like I said, the bomber repeated himself. _That_ was a mistake.” Sherlock tries to bypass John but the Alpha stops him again.

“No, but Sherl... The hostage... the _old woman_. She’s been there all this time.” If Sherlock doesn’t care about saving her then he’s been wrong about the Omega this whole time. That he really is heartless and that it’s all a game. That John thinking he was pretending to be cold was actually real and he really does know nothing about who Sherlock is.

“I _knew_ I could save her. I also knew that the bomber had given us _twelve_ hours. I solved the case quickly; that gave me time to get on with other things. Don’t you _see_? We’re one up on him!” Sherlock says it enthusiastically and it makes sense in John’s mind that Sherlock would be trying to think ahead and outsmart the bomber. But the way he says it still makes John grit his teeth before letting Sherlock pass into Lestrade’s office. John pauses and grabs a paper cup of water from the water cooler. His emotions are all over the place, he wants to be happy one minute and angry the next, and it’s getting harder to control with these cases. You would think he would be getting used to it now, it’s just the way Sherlock makes him feel, but it’s so much worse because he won’t open up right now, right when they were getting somewhere.

By the time he is willing to follow the detective, they are typing the answer to the case into Sherlock’s website. The answer isn’t even on the site for a second before the phone is already ringing. To John that seems suspicious, as if the bomber knew before he even typed the answer that Sherlock had it.

The detective answers it and is trying to get the address out of the women, Lestrade has a pen and paper ready, but both of the Alpha’s turn toward Sherlock and go still when his voice goes louder and he’s almost yelling into the phone.

“No, no, no, no. Tell me nothing about him. _Nothing._” He pauses. “Hello?”

“Sherlock?” Lestrade questions.

“What’s happened?” John also questions.

Sherlock slowly pulls the phone away from his face, staring dead ahead, the dial tone can be heard in the room. Both Alpha’s look away, knowing that it had all gone wrong. Despite how the Omega could almost always hide his feelings, never letting them show with his scent, it was too abrupt and his scent sours , rotting grass instead of lush meadow. John isn’t sure if he wants to know why Sherlock is upset, still mad at the detective for leaving the women stranded for hours, even if he might have had a good reason to do so.

Lestrade lets them leave quickly, it’s late and the police now have to deal with the fallout. The call of an explosion rings in quickly and it’s no secret that this is where the poor woman was.

The cab ride home is silent.

\-----

Back at the flat, it’s late but Iris is curled up in John’s chair waiting for them. It’s obvious from their demeanor that something bad happened. Sherlock hangs up his coat and scarf, immediately heading to their room and closing the door, lightly. Iris watches him go but stays waiting for John instead. The Alpha kicks off his shoes, hangs up his coat, and goes to the fridge. He isn’t normally one to drink, but he grabs a beer and heads back to the sitting room. He intended to go to his room, thinking Iris would be asleep, but instead he sits on the couch because Iris has moved to it and is clearly hoping he will stay.

The whole room smells like Lestrade and it’s pissing him off more than it should because it’s bringing back everything that happened at the Clinic. He thought he could try to get over it quickly, but it pops back into his head every time he smells the leather. He twists off the top of the bottle and has a long swig, the cool liquid adding to the ice in his heart.

They sit for a while, neither saying anything just being together for a moment. Iris curls up next to him and pushes himself up under John’s arm, his head resting on the Alpha’s chest as he slumps back onto the couch.

“Do you want to talk about it?” The teen questions. John takes another sip of his beer and puts it on the little side table.

“I don’t know which it you want to talk about. The case or _It_?” John puts his head back, laying it on the back of the couch, staring at the ceiling. He can partially see the map and pictures on the wall from the cases, the most recent of which hit way too close to home. Sherlock hadn’t said it, but John knew that the Prince case was too familiar to what they had going on here and the bomber was using that to his twisted advantage.

“I told you not to worry about _It_. Dad and you will be fine, he wants to talk to you about all of it, he’s just distracted with these cases right now.

“Well, sue me for being a worrier.”

Iris rubs his head into John’s chest then decides to crawl fully into the Alpha’s lap, pushing himself up so he can rub his face into his neck. He does it all slowly, letting John just lay there, exhausted. The Omega continues pushing the bounds, getting his neck right up against John’s to scent him slowly. It’s not sexual, just like the scenting they did in the bed. It’s comforting and gentle, John lets Iris’s scent wash over him and he can feel the stiffness he had ease out of him. At the same time, Iris’s muscles relax as tension bleeds out of the teen. Stress that John hadn’t realized the Omega had until he goes slack in his arms as they bask for a while in each other's warmth.

“Thank you.” John says, hugging the teen tight before patting him on the side, to scooch off him. They separate for the night, John leaving his barely touched beer and heading to bed, feeling only slightly guilty that he let Iris scent him, but he lets it slide, knowing they were just comforting each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please let me know what you think by adding a comment and I will do my best to get back to everyone. Thanks for reading! <3


	9. Moriarty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mysterious bomber continues and Sherlock discovers that it is Moriarty who is pulling the strings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo everyone! Back for the next chapter and sooner than I would normally post because the coronavirus had be wanting to get this out since I know everyone is stuck at home. I wrote over 7k words on Sunday just to get this out for you lovely people. Please continue being safe everyone and enjoy this chapter.
> 
> As always my work is completely based on fiction and I do not condone the various behaviors portrayed in it in real life, this is all just fantasy. Please feel free to point out inaccuracies and spelling errors and I will change them.

John wakes up early to shower off Iris’s scent and dress properly for the day. He has a funny feeling that the day is going to be eventful, maybe because of the scenting and Sherlock potentially being really upset but definitely because of the bomber. A cream colored sweater is the first thing he sees in his closet and he instantly puts it on, loving the comfort and warmth his sweater brings him. When he gets down stairs he discovers Iris sitting in his pajamas, wrapped in a blanket and eating cereal in the spot they had scented last night. Iris still smells heavily of him and John can’t help but smile. He puts his hand on top of Iris’s curls and ruffles them around playfully, leaving several fluffy bits standing straight up. Iris giggles and bats his hand away.

“What am I going to do with you? Hmm.” John says playfully.

“Not much, at least for a few years.” Iris looks up and winks.

The Alpha can’t help but bark out a laugh. He turns around and heads to the kitchen for a cup of tea. As he’s standing there waiting for the kettle to boil, Sherlock comes out of the bedroom already dressed in a suit, clearly also ready for the bomber's quests to continue. John turns back to the kettle, internally cursing the thing for holding him back from the sweet elixir of life that a morning cup of tea holds. That is until he smells his scent, heavy of Sherlock as the Omega strolls by him. He expected the detective to have some scent that might have rubbed off from Iris since the teen likely didn’t shower before getting in the nest. But the heavy scent suggests that Iris and Sherlock had scented each other while the teen was still covered in his Alpha scent. It’s confusing, but John takes it as a good sign that Sherlock might not be entirely mad at him anymore.

The detective sits down, settling the pink phone beside him on the chair before rummaging around for the remote. The sitting room is still torn apart, boards over the windows but at least all the glass has been picked up by Iris. The kettle decides to finally start simmering as John hears the television click on and Sherlock scrolls through a few of the different news channels but he must not find anything because he picks one and stares instead at the wall. His one foot slowly moves up and down, showing his restlessness. He’s anxious for the bomber to give them their next task.

John finishes making his tea and sits down in his chair, patting his union jack pillow before settling in. A few sips later and the news on the television goes to a live report about a ‘gas explosion’. The three of them watch on as the video of a building partially blown apart comes across the screen, images of rubble like what was outside their own flat only a few days ago shows that their bomber is serious.

“Old block of flats.” John says, looking back at Sherlock.

The news man continues on saying that the explosion was just a gas leak and that the utilities company has a spokesman out to talk about it. Of course, they all know that it’s a cover up by the police department and that it was really the bomber. He almost wonders at how many times in the past a bomb has been played off as a gas explosion.

“_He_ certainly gets about.” John sighs, sad about how so many had to die. He takes a few sips of tea, attempting to calm himself.

“Well, obviously I lost that round – although technically I did solve the case.” Sherlock says, his jaw clenched as he angrily tries to mute the television. He gets it eventually, letting his arm drop to the chair, clearly upset. John wants it to be because of the woman dying but Sherlock’s words make him seem more upset about the case going south. The Alpha looks over toward the detective as he just stares into the wall.

“He killed the old lady because she started to describe him.” He holds up his hand, his index finger extended. “Just once, he put himself in the firing line.” His hand stays hovering above the pink phone.

“What d’you mean?” John says. He sees Iris shift forward to listen from his spot on the couch.

“Well, usually, he must stay above it all. He organizes these things but no-one ever has direct contact.” Sherlock finally shifts his eyes to John as he explains.

“What ... like the Connie Prince murder…he-he arranged that? So people come to him wanting their crimes fixed up, like booking a holiday?” John can’t help but find the notion to be absolutely ridiculous, but does his best to keep a straight face.

“Novel.” Sherlock sighs out breathily, his eyes staring at John still but no longer seeing him. Clearly seeing something in his mind instead of what’s sitting in front of him. John studies his face for a moment but looks away mildly disgusted, turning his attention back to the muted television.

“Huh.” He says as the news moves on from the gas explosion to the Connie Prince murder. He watches as the houseboy, Raoul, is taken away by the police. Dozens of photographers are there, trying to get pictures, cameras flashing away as the man is put into the back of a police car.

“Taking his time this time.” Sherlock says, staring intently at the pink phone. John looks to the detective first and then to Iris. The teen is also staring at the phone, almost as if mesmerized by the little piece of technology in it’s feminine and unassuming form. John thinks of it like a black hole that has caught Sherlock, drawing him into the unknown darkness that wants only to consume him.

The Alpha clears his throat, attempting to maybe get the focus off the device but doesn’t bother to see the results instead turning back to the tv to see Kenny Prince. The Beta is standing in the window with the annoying furless cat that John had been so sure was the murder weapon. John notices that Kenny’s face doesn’t seem upset. He wonders if knowing that Raoul had slain his sister made him no longer care about the man, or if he had never truly cared for either of them. As he watches the even worse thought occurs that perhaps he had wanted his sister dead and manipulated Raoul into doing it for him, leaving him free from any blame.

“Anything on the Carl Powers case?” John asks. He knows Sherlock and Iris have been digging. Even if his doctorly knowledge says Iris _should_ be resting after the near death experience and then a false heat. The teen has been through a lot and yet he’s acting more mature about it than his years suggest.

“Nothing. All the living classmates check out spotless. No connection.”

“Maybe the killer was older than Carl?” John offers as a suggestion.

“The thought had occurred.” The detective steeples his hands below his nose, a classic thinking pose for him.

“So why’s he doing this, then – playing this game with you? D’you think he wants to be caught?” He mimics Lestrade’s words from when they were in his office.

Sherlock smiles behind his fingers. “I think he wants to be distracted.”

John laughs humorlessly, getting up suddenly in frustration. “You’ll be very happy together.” He says before heading off toward the kitchen, taking his half empty cup with him.

What John says shakes Sherlock to his core. The Alpha’s words echoing what the bomber had said on the phone. “We were made for each other, Sherlock.” The voice had said, but he hadn’t told John about it. The fact that the Alpha was mimicking the words has him concerned for a moment. He knows that they haven’t gotten to talk about what they are to each other, like they both need, but he had hoped that the fact that he’s literally sitting with John’s scent on his skin would be enough to show that he wasn’t upset anymore. “Sorry, what?” He says instead of talking about what they really need to, ignoring that John is likely irritated that someone else is pulling his attention away from him.

John chucks his tea cup onto the table, tea spilling out across the messy surface. “There are lives at stake, Sherlock – actual _human_ lives...” John roars out. The Alpha has never gotten angry like this, he has always been calm and unassuming in his comfy sweaters, but this time he’s been pushed just that bit too far. His scent spikes in the air, dangerous and threatening enough that Iris sinks back into the couch, hiding beneath the blanket. “Just – just so I know, do you care about that at _all_?” John puts his hands on the top of his chair, gripping the fabric hard. He doesn’t try to hide his anger in this moment, his face trying to turn into a snarl, which he forces into a grimace.

Sherlock is good at ignoring scents which comes in handy as he keeps his face schooled, even as the scent assaults his senses. “Will caring about them help save them?”

“Nope.” John says shaking his head, his mouth downturned.

“Then I’ll continue not to make that mistake.” Sherlock stares the Alpha down, not afraid of John, knowing that he won’t actually hurt them.

“And you find that easy, do you?” John’s eyes narrow.

“Yes, very. Is that _news_ to you?” Sherlock asks, observing John.

“No.” John says before giving a bitter filled chuckle, his scent once again wafting around the room, though this time it’s not so dangerous and more sour, turning from burning leaves to rotting wood. “No.” He says again, shaking his head with a strange unpleasant looking smile on his face.

“I’ve disappointed you.” The detective can tell that John is unhappy with everything that has been going on. Their budding relationship in shambles yet that seems to be both because John seems to have put him on a pedestal while Sherlock has always known he doesn’t deserve that type of attention, for many reasons. He’s not that good of a person, and he thought he had shown that to John.

“That’s good – that’s a good deduction, yeah.” That strange sarcastic smile is still on John’s face as he points at Sherlock and licks his lips.

“_Don’t_ make people into heroes, John. Heroes don’t exist, and if they did, I wouldn’t be one of them.” The two of them stare at each other for a moment, the air still and constricting in their silence.

The pink phone’s message tone interrupts their little row. “Excellent.” Sherlock says, his attention on their conversation completely broken, the next piece of the case consuming him once again in it clutches. He picks it up and looks at the newest photograph that the bomber has sent. “View of the Thames. South Bank, somewhere between Southwark Bridge and Waterloo.” He reaches for his own phone in his jacket pocket. “You check the papers; I’ll look online...” The detective looks up for a moment to see John with his hands placed back on his chair, his back hunched as he hangs his head, his breathing steadying as he calms himself down.

“Oh, you’re angry with me, so you won’t help.” Sherlock actually gets his phone out and starts researching. “Not much cop, this caring lark.”

John stares at Sherlock, really tries to see him in this moment as his thoughts that the detective was actually trying to subtly help people in his own way, that he cared for them in some capacity are shattered. He sniffs, and looks over to Iris, who has come out of his blanket hiding spot and is looking down at his hands. He walks over to the couch as Sherlock continues to type on his phone, clearly not finding what he’s looking for quickly. John puts his hand lightly on the side of Iris’s head and bends down, giving him a small peck on the top of his head. “I’m sorry.” He says lightly before passing the teen by and sitting in front of the newspapers on the coffee table, opening one up before turning a few pages, letting out a sigh as he does.

“Archway suicide.” John says uninterested, still trying to calm down.

“Ten a penny.” Sherlock shoots back.

John turns a few more pages as Iris leans against him slightly. “Two kids stabbed in Stoke Newington.” He closes the paper and moves onto the one below it. “Ah. Man found on the train line – Andrew West.” John tries to prompt some sort of reaction out of Sherlock.

“Nothing.” Is all Sherlock says before bringing up his phone to his ear.

John drowns out everything regarding Sherlock for the next few hours. After finishing the papers he gets a small bit of breakfast. Iris follows him around the flat like a lost puppy, clearly wanting to comfort him, but not sure how or what he’s allowed. The teen eats toast with John, cleans up the table from the spilled tea and helps him organize the fridge, which has turned into a wreck over the last few days. It’s busy work but it helps the Alpha, giving him something to do instead of sit here uselessly.

Sherlock sits the whole time with his hands steepled, never moving as he presumably roams around in his mind palace.

When the call comes through from Lestrade that a body has been found around the area that Sherlock asked about, they head out there. By now, Iris had dressed in a pair of jeans and a jacket. John isn’t as surprised this time when he’s in the middle of the taxi cab with the two Holmes’s, as this is likely to become a regular occurrence now that Iris has decided to quit this semester of University.

Sherlock grabs a pair of gloves from one of the medical examiners as they walk down to the crime scene. A man’s body can be seen from where they are and Lestrade is already standing there, his gray hair being ruffled by the breeze.

“D’you reckon this is connected, then? The bomber?” It’s the only thing lately that’s been on his mind.

“Must be. Odd, though…” Sherlock holds up the pink phone. “He hasn’t been in touch.” Sherlock continues around the body and backs up taking an overall look. Meanwhile Iris has gone to stand next to Lestrade, who throws an arm over his shoulder in a side hug. John eyes the other Alpha, confused as to why he’s touching Iris. He realizes he’s never seen them together, doesn’t know anything about their relationship, other than Iris referring to him as Uncle.

“But we must assume that some poor bugger’s primed to explode, yeah?” Lestrade says, letting Iris go. John turns toward the body, his instincts had been a little concerned with another Alpha touching the teen, but Lestrade was acting normal as there’s nothing strange about giving someone you know a little hug. John likes the other Alpha, his own Alpha hums a little, content to know that his Omega’s are protected by another. Well, not his, but the Omega’s are cared for, if he has to leave.

“Yes.” Sherlock says.

“Any ideas?” Lestrade asks as Iris starts to circle the body.

“Seven.” Sherlock says.

“Three.” Iris says at the same time.

Lestrade looks between them. “Seven?! Wait and three more?!” He looks a little concerned as he side eyes John, who just shrugs.

The Omega’s go into deduction mode, Sherlock with his gloves searches the body, squatting down with his magnifier as Iris follows along. When he’s finished he gives a head tilt to John, telling him to do his own analysis and John looks to Lestrade for permission. While in the past it might be seen as bad to ask another Alpha for permission, the two of them have a good understanding of each other, gone are the days of them squaring off against each other. Lestrade just sweeps his hand out with a little bow, wordlessly giving him the go-ahead.

John takes a quick look and gives his details to Lestrade while Sherlock is off looking stuff up on his phone. “He’s dead about twenty-four hours – maybe a bit longer.” He looks a little closer at the face before looking at Lestrade. “Did he drown?”

“Apparently not. Not enough of the Thames in his lungs. Asphyxiated.”

“Yes, I’d agree.” John says looking back. “There’s quite a bit of bruising around the nose and mouth. More bruises here and here.” He says as he moves around the body.

“Fingertips.” Sherlock says. John looks at him but goes back to the body.

“In his late thirties, I’d say. Not in the best condition.” Iris is now looking down listening intently at what John has to say.

“He’s been in the river a long while. The water’s destroyed most of the data.” Sherlock says louder prompting everyone to look at him. “But I’ll tell you one thing: that lost Vermeer painting’s a fake.” He confidently smiles at his deduction.

“What?” Lestrade says confused.

“We need to identify the corpse. Find out about his friends and associates —”

“Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait. What painting? What are you…what are you on about?” John for once is happy that someone else is asking the question he so often wants to ask.

“It’s all over the place. Haven’t you seen the posters? Dutch Old Master, supposed to have been destroyed centuries ago; now it’s turned up. Worth thirty _million_ pounds.” Iris moves closer to John as they both watch the back and forth between the Alpha and Omega as they talk about the painting and an assassin named The Golem. It isn’t until Sherlock and Lestrade are getting a little off topic with insults that John steps in.

“All right, all right, girls, calm down.” Iris snickers next to him amused by his way of breaking up the situation. John bumps his elbow into the teen’s side playfully and Iris has to cover his mouth not to laugh more. “Sherlock? D’you wanna take us through it?” He asks as the two grown men in front of him both blink a few times as they realize they were acting like pups.

Sherlock refocuses quickly, giving them a full rundown about the dead man being a security guard, how he checked and one of the Hickman Gallery reported one as missing. That the man must have known something important because he’s just a regular guy, no use in having such a high profile assassin come in for something mundane. By the end of it all John is once again stunned by how amazing the detective’s mind is and when he looks even Iris is smiling proudly.

“Fantastic.” John says.

“Meretricious.” The detective says, downplaying his intellect once again.

“And a Happy New Year!” Lestrade says, but after everyone looks at him weirdly they fall under a strange silence.

“Poor sod.” John says looking at the body and Iris nods beside him.

“I’d better get my feelers out for this Golem character.” Lestrade says, back in police mode.

“Pointless. You’ll never find him. But I know a man who can.” Sherlock twirls around to leave.

“Who's that?”

“Me.” Sherlock says over his shoulder, continuing to walk away. John sighs but follows after. Iris smiles at Lestrade and catches up to John, trying not to get a foot stuck in the mud.

\-----

They stop under a bridge where John watches Sherlock give a homeless woman money and a note that he had watched him make in the taxi. He’s confused as usual and doesn’t get an actual answer out of the detective. Back in the cab they give the driver the new direction to the gallery. When they pull up Sherlock starts to get out but halts John when he and Iris go to follow.

“No. I need you two to find out all you can about the gallery attendant. Lestrade will give you the address.” They both nod and the taxi is on it’s way again as John calls Lestrade. As they ride along, Iris takes John’s hand and holds it but doesn’t say anything. John lets him and even tightens the grip.

They meet up with a Beta woman who was sharing a flat with Alex, the dead security guard. All three of them check out the man’s bedroom, a tiny attic flat with stargazing posters hung up on the walls.

“We’d been sharing about a year. Just sharing.” She says standing to the side to let the two of them have a look around. John is never sure what exactly he’s looking for but he has Iris, so hopefully they’ll make good progress. He notices a large object covered by a sheet and looks to the Beta.

“May I?” He gestures to it.

“Yeah.”

John lightly touches the sheet making it fall to the floor. “Sorry.” The object in front of him is a telescope, clearly one for stargazing, though it’s not so large as to be professional. “Stargazer, was he?”

“God, yeah. Mad about it. It’s all he ever did in his spare time.” Her voice gets emotional. Iris’s eyes are jumping wildly around the room and John busies himself bu looking at the guy's books. “He was a nice guy, Alex. I liked him.” John turns back to the telescope, it feels important for some reason, maybe because it takes up such a large amount of room in a tiny space. “He was never much of a one for hoovering.” She tries to smile and John gives her a sad smile in return.

“What about art? Did he know anything about that?” John asks, trying to get a feel for Alex.

“It was just a job, you know?” She shakes her head.

John is looking at the bedside table. “Has anyone else been round asking about Alex?” Iris looks at her, observing her face.

“No. We had a break-in, though.” She says and John shoots up from his bent over position.

“Hmm? When?” Curious that someone would break in the night the man is murdered.

“Last night. There was nothing taken. Oh, there _was_ a message left for Alex on the landline.” John and Iris lock eyes, clearly both intrigued. “I can play it, if you’d like. I’ll get the phone.”

“Please” They both say together.

After listening to the short message and not being able to call back, they bid the Beta farewell. As they get outside John’s phone rings with a text from Mycroft, asking if he’s interviewed West’s fiancée for the other case yet. He sighs. “Iris, your Uncle Mycroft wants me to go talk to West’s fiancée. Do you want to head back to the flat?”

“No. I want to see more of why Uncle wants this case done so badly and why dad is ignoring it.” The teen looks serious, his light blue eyes narrowed in thought.

“Well alright.”

Twenty minutes later they’re being invited into West’s flat, by his fiancée Lucy, an Omega that smells of cinnamon and who is obviously distressed. The smell of burnt cinnamon can be smelled heavily as they go to sit on her couch. John wants to comfort her, a natural Alpha instinct, but he refrains. She makes them all tea and Iris snoops around the place as quietly as possible, looking for clues. Once they get settled in she finally talks, assuring John that Westie was a good man and that he would never betray his country. Behind her Iris nods that he believes she’s telling the truth.

They finish up with her and leave, bumping into a Beta on the way out who has a bike. Lucy introduces him as her brother Joe and he gets a little aggressive, telling John that he needs to tell the police to get off their asses, clearly unsatisfied with how the case is going. John assures them they’re working on it.

In the taxi as the sun goes down, Iris holds his hand again until they’re pulling up outside the flat. It seems to be perfect timing as John can see Sherlock come out the front door as they are pulling up. He pays and steps out of the cab, rushing up to Sherlock, getting so close he actually gets a tad nervous for a moment being so close he can smell the detective. “Alex Woodbridge didn’t know anything special about art.” He announces.

“And?” Sherlock says, looking down at him.

“And…” John feels a little lost for words having Sherlock’s intense gaze on him.

“Is that it? No habits, hobbies, personality?” Iris finally walks up beside him but the detective is leaving, walking over to a homeless woman, John notices it’s the same one from earlier in the day.

“No, give us a chance! He was an amateur astronomer.”

“Hold that cab!” Sherlock shouts and points.

John rushes over to get the cab, asking the driver to stay for a moment. Sherlock returns over to them, noticing that Iris is yawning. “Pup.” He draws the younger Omega into a hug. “Why don’t you call it a night. If you want you can text me everything you found with John.” Iris nods his head, returning the hug and shooting a quick smile at the Alpha before heading up the stairs.

“Fortunately, I _haven’t_ been idle.” Sherlock says to John, hoping into the cab, which John follows him into immediately. Ever following the detective.

In the cab Sherlock gets text after text from Iris and John does his best to add what he saw. He knows it’s probably not as important as what Iris is saying, but he tries, talking about the message left for the dead man on the land line.

Finally outside the cab and wandering into a strange back alley, Sherlock looks to the sky. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” He remarks.

John isn’t sure what he’s talking about at first, but looks up to see some stars in the sky. “You don’t care about things like that. We literally had a row a fortnight ago about you not knowing that the Earth goes round the Sun.” The Alpha scoffs, remembering the argument.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate it.” John is struck once again by Sherlock. How can this man one moment argue that something is irrelevant to him and then appreciate its beauty in the next. He’s a walking contradiction at every moment and maybe it’s just because with the Alpha around the detective’s finally learning to see things from a different perspective. John loves it, this walking paradox of an Omega.

They continue down the path until they hit the darkness of the arches, a rough part of town if the graffiti on the walls is anything to go by.

“This way.” Sherlock says, switching on a flashlight and leading the way into the dark.

John follows wearily, instincts on high alert as he goes into a dangerous situation. As usual he feels oddly calm, his senses heightened and heart beat steady. They pass by dozens of homeless people, sleeping along the sides in cardboard boxes and ratty blankets. The smell is overwhelming and the Alpha has to cover his nose to block it out. It doesn’t really work well, so when they reach the end of a tunnel, he pulls at Sherlock’s coat to get him to stop.

“What?” Sherlock’s eyes dart back and forth, annoyed that they are stopping.

“Can I have your scarf?” John feels bad asking but the smells are getting to him, his overly sensitive Alpha nose hindering him.

Sherlock must see his discomfort because he gives it over easier than John expected. He wraps it around his face and takes several large breaths, letting the sweet meadow grass scent take over. He can still slightly smell the foul odors but it’s better. “What’s the Golem doing sleeping rough?” He asks, trying to get a little more information out of the detective.

“Well, he has a very distinctive look. He has to hide somewhere where tongues won’t wag…much.” Sherlock looks around the corner, spotting a large shadow on the wall shaped like a person. He gives John a signal that they are about to go in and John reaches to his side but realizes he doesn’t have his weapon.

“Wish I’d known what we were doing, would have brought ‘backup’.” John states. To which Sherlock turns around to face him once again, pulling John’s pistol from his coat pocket. The Alpha looks at it for a moment and smiles, though the scarf hides most of it, but Sherlock nods at the acknowledgement of his forward thinking.

Sherlock looks back around the corner and takes off, John following. They rush down the corridor getting to the end, but as they turn the corner they both witness the Golem getting into a black vehicle which speeds away.

“No, no, no, _no_! It’ll take us _weeks_ to find him again.” Sherlock yells, punching a fist around in the air which just makes him twirl dramatically.

John takes it easier, putting his gun away. “Or not. I have an idea where he might be going.” He licks his lips, not sure if his idea will play out but it’s worth a shot.

“What?”

“I told you: someone left Alex Woodbridge a message. There can’t be _that_ many Professor Cairns in the book. Come on.” They run out to the main road, John dropping the scarf down to breathe the fresher air, while Sherlock looks up the name on his phone.

A few minutes later and they’re on their way to the only Professor Cairns that has something to do with planets and stars, which is what Sherlock thinks connects the two people.

“If this professor called to let Alex know that something about the painting was fake, then her life is in danger from the Golem. We’ll be going in hot.” Sherlock says as they near the building.

“Right.” John pays for the cab as Sherlock finds a way in. A moment later they’re bursting through the doors of a room they can hear audio playing in. The Alpha has his pistol out already and Sherlock shouts into the room. A large shadow can be seen along the back but they are blinded by a light in their faces coming from a projector, which flashes and goes black a second later.

“John!” Sherlock shouts.

“I can’t see him. I’ll go round. I’ll go!” John says, headed down off the stage and toward where he thinks the assassin is. He can’t smell any scent in the area, so he relies on his eyes instead, but the flashing makes it difficult.

Sherlock stays on the stage, lit periodically by the flashing light of the projector. “Who are you working for this time, Dzundza?” He shouts, hoping to lure in the hired killer. In the background he can hear the audio from the projector, talking about the collapsing of a supernova star. It’s so loud that he doesn’t realize that the large and lumbering Golem has snuck up behind him until a large hand clamps around his mouth, covering a huge portion of his face. The detective tries to yank on the hand as another one clamps around his neck, fingertips digging harshly into his sensitive scent gland.

“Golem!” John shouts, jumping up onto the stage, pistol drawn and pointed toward the man’s face. The man is bald and his face has a grotesqueness to it that if John wasn’t a soldier he might have hesitated to get nearer. But the hands he sees about Sherlock’s neck make him more than willing to kill this man immediately, if only he could get a clear shot. John puts out a wave of Alpha scent, to see if he can get the guy to submit but the Golem just starts turning them, forcing John into a strange circle pattern as he tries to keep his gun pointed at his target. “Let him go, or I _will_ kill you.” John threatens, growling a bit at the end. But the Golem shows no reaction to his scent or his Alpha command.

The audio plays loudly again then cuts as the Golem hauls Sherlock to the side, throwing him down to the ground, while his leg kicks out at John’s weapon, forcing it from his hand. Before he attempts to retrieve it the assassin is on John instead, wrestling with him for control, giving him a kick to the stomach then pulling him with great strength to crash into what can only be Sherlock, who must have gotten up to rejoin the fight. They both go crashing to the floor, the detective bouncing back faster gets up, standing to his tallest but the Golem stands taller, towering over him.

John looks around to potentially find his pistol, while Sherlock has the man occupied, but when the Omega hits the floor, his mouth and nose being covered once again by the Golem, John jumps in. The Alpha manages to get onto the giant’s back and get his strong arms around his neck, putting him into a choke hold. John roars out, instinct to protect taking him over as he holds on tight, the Golem trying to shake him off like a wild horse who refuses to be tamed.

But the Golem is too much, physically stronger than even the other Alphas that John wrestled with in the military. He is thrown down to the floor, his body thumping roughly against the stage before he’s grabbed up and tossed along the floor. As he goes to get up he hears two shots ring out but when he turns all he sees is Sherlock hitting the ground with his fist. The Golem has gotten away again.

John rushes over and helps Sherlock to his feet, which the Omega tries to brush off but the doctor in John has him checking over the detective’s head and throat for injuries. The skin is red and irritated, but he seems fine. Once he’s satisfied, Sherlock gives him his weapon back. “We should get you some lessons.” John comments, which draws an irritated scowl from the still upset Omega.

They find the professor dead near the projector’s control board. Too late to stop her murder, they call Lestrade to have a unit sent out to recover her body. They wait and plan their next move and a few hours later with the Alpha inspector in tow, they arrive at the gallery where the painting is being held. The curator is there already letting them into the room where it’s on display, she’s a stuck up looking Beta who looks at them with a sneer on her face as if someone smeared shit right under her nose.

Sherlock stares at the painting, looking at every detail from the brush strokes to the specific colors used. He turns back to his phone searching. “It’s a fake. It _has_ to be.” His face twitches in irritation as he brings up nothing in his searches.

“That painting has been subjected to every test known to science.” The woman says, arms crossed defensively. John looks between her and the painting, though why he bothers trying to find something wrong with it, he isn’t sure. He knows he has no knowledge that would be helpful when it comes to art.

“It’s a very _good_ fake, then.” Sherlock snarls then whips around to face the curator. “You _know_ about this, don’t you? This is _you_, isn’t it?” John knows its inappropriate but he loves when Sherlock gets aggressive with people, it makes his blood run faster. The lady just rolls her eyes and turns to Lestrade.

“Inspector, my time is being wasted. Would you mind showing yourself and your _friends _out?” She says with a sneer just as the pink phone’s ringtone sounds.

Sherlock answers it on speakerphone, letting everyone in the room hear as he holds it out. “The painting is a fake.” He pauses for a moment. “It’s a fake. That’s why Woodbridge and Cairns were killed.” The line stays almost silent, a small amount of breathing can be heard. It makes everyone in the room shift on their feet, uncomfortable. “Oh, come on. Proving it’s just a detail. The painting is a fake. I’ve solved it. I’ve figured it out. It’s a fake! That’s the answer. That’s why they were killed.” When no answer continues to come, the detective takes a deep calming breath. “Okay, I’ll prove it. Give me time. Will you give me time?” He pleads into the phone.

John has never heard Sherlock beg for anything, but after losing the last hostage he can understand that it might be what’s needed to save this one, even if he’s still unsure if the pleading is because he cares about the captive or if he just wants to solve the case. They don’t even know if a hostage is part of this challenge, as the bomber hasn’t called with a new voice, switching up his tactics. Trying to throw them off the trail.

“Ten.” A young boy's voice rings out through the empty room. Sherlock spins around going back to the painting. But the two Alpha’s freeze for a moment.

“It’s a pup. Oh, God, it’s just a _pup_!” Lestrade says horrified looking toward John.

“What did he say?” John says, his mind spinning at the notion of a young pup being strapped to explosives. All he sees in his head is Iris strapped to the chair, tears streaming down his face. How this pup isn’t crying is a mystery.

“Ten.” Sherlock says, answering him as the kid says nine. “It’s a countdown. He’s giving me time.” The detective’s eyes shoot all around the painting, trying to take in every detail but nothing stands out.

“Jesus.” Lestrade says and both Alphas mirror each other as they both cover their mouths.

“The painting is a fake, but how can I prove it? How? _How?”_ He’s getting upset, shaking a little.

“Eight.” The little boy's voice calls.

“This kid will die. _Tell_ me why the painting is a fake. _Tell me!” _Sherlock yells at the woman. She backs up and opens her mouth but says nothing.

“Seven.” The countdown continues.

“No, shut up. Don’t say anything. It only works if I figure it out.” He turns back to the painting. John can’t take it and turns around, walking away from the painting. Lestrade watches him go, but doesn’t say anything. They’re both completely useless right now. They’re supposed to be protectors, they’re Alphas but there is nothing they can do.

“Must be possible. Must be staring me in the face.” Sherlock tries to encourage himself.

“Six.” John turns back around and comes to the group.

“Woodbridge knew, but _how_?” John can hear the desperation starting to set in.

“It’s speeding up!” Lestrade yells as the little voice says five.

“Sherlock!” John yells.

The detective is looking down thinking when he suddenly whips his head up and shouts. “Oh!”

“Four.”

“In the planetarium! You heard it too. Oh, that is brilliant! That is gorgeous!” Sherlock goes away from the painting, shoving the pink phone to John who fumbles with it for a moment. Meanwhile the detective pulls out his own phone and begins typing.

“Three.” The little pup on the other ends voice is becoming more strained.

“What’s brilliant? What is?” John shouts.

“This is beautiful. I love this!” Sherlock must have found what he wanted because he looks to the ceiling then comes back toward the Alphas.

“Two.”

“Sherlock!” Lestrade yells, his Alpha voice letting loose, causing the lady to back away scared, but Sherlock just takes the phone from John without a care for the inspector.

“The Van Buren Supernova!” A moment of silence follows as the four of them hold their breaths, John praying that whatever Sherlock discovered is the correct answer.

“_Please_. Is somebody there?” The knot in John’s chest relaxes and everyone lets out a sigh, except the curator woman. “Somebody help me!” The kids pleads. He sounds so little and John’s heart breaks to hear a pup in such distress.

“There you go. Go find out where he is and pick him up.” Sherlock gives the phone to Lestrade. The detective locks eyes with John, who is standing there with his mouth partially open in complete awe of the Omega’s brilliance. He knows Sherlock told him not to make him a hero in his mind, but he can’t do that, he can’t unhear the detective plead for just a bit more time and can’t unsee the relief he’s trying to hide on his face, that he saved the pup.

Sherlock goes up to the painting, not quite touching it, but points to a star in the sky. “The Van Buren Supernova, so-called. Exploding star, only appeared in the sky in eighteen fifty-eight.” He holds his phone up for the curator lady to see, then walks away.

John goes up to the painting as the woman just stares at it. The Alpha can’t help but laugh out a relieved breath. “So how could it have been painted in the sixteen…forties?” He smiles at the painting, so happy that the next challenge has been completed successfully. His phone text alert goes off and it’s Mycroft again. His smile fades as he realizes he didn’t make any progress on the other case that Sherlock refuses to work on. If he solves it he wonders if the detective will be impressed with him or mad that he followed his brother’s orders.

John hears the door click as Sherlock leaves and makes his way out with a nod to the Beta woman.

\-----

Sherlock heads with Lestrade to the police station and John heads home to catch a bit of sleep and check on Iris. When he gets home Iris is all over him asking how it went. John hugs him tight, thinking of the teen once again sitting in front of the crossbow, in danger. When he pulls away the Alpha gives him a quick review, but tells Iris he needs to have a lie down before he gets on with Mycroft’s case. John removes his jacket when he gets to his room and realizes he still has Sherlock’s scarf. He doesn’t really bother removing the rest of his clothes, just sets a four hour alarm and falls immediately asleep, nose buried in the scarf.

When he wakes up Iris has made him breakfast which he inhales and is off to the train tracks. A Beta shows him to the site where Westie supposedly jumped in front of the train. He gives John some good insight, mostly with the fact that there wasn’t much blood on the tracks, which indicates to John that he probably wasn’t a jumper, but was instead placed here. When the train tracks move, John squats down, thoughts flying through his head.

“Points.” A voice says behind him, making him jump up to find Sherlock standing there, his scarf that John left behind at the house now once again in its proper place around his neck.

“What?”

“Knew you’d get there eventually. West wasn’t killed here; that’s why there was so little blood.” His words annoy John a little. It seems that Sherlock has been testing him without his knowledge. He wonders briefly if he’s been doing well.

“How long have you been following me?”

“Since the start. You don’t think I’d give up on a case like this just to spite my brother, do you?” Sherlock gives a half smile and turns walking away.

They don’t bother getting a cab, the detective seems to know where they’re going and it’s not too many blocks away in an adjacent neighborhood. They break into a flat which Sherlock finally tells him belongs to the brother of Westie’s fiancée, the Beta he met with the bike. The blood on the windowsill confirms that something bad happened here.

When the Beta comes home, John grabs his pistol, glad he continued to carry it after last night. He has to pull it on the man when he makes a move to throw his bike at John, but immediately submits at the smell of heavy scent and a weapon he knows he can’t escape.

The confession takes very little prompting once they get him seated on the couch. Though he says it was just an accident, which at first John doesn’t believe until he describes how he had stolen the memory stick with the missile plans while his future brother in law was drunk. But it had backfired because Westie had confronted him and when the Beta had pushed him, he had fallen down the stairs, breaking his neck on the way down. He sounds sad as he says it all, claiming it was a spur of the moment decision to put Westie’s body on the train.

“D’you still have it, then? The memory stick?” John asks and the Beta nods.

“Fetch it for me. If you wouldn’t mind.” Sherlock waits until the brother gets up and goes to another room to get the thumb drive. “Distraction over, the game continues.” He whispers to John.

“Well, maybe _that’s_ over, too. We’ve heard nothing from the bomber.” John is hopeful, yet it hasn’t really been that long. The bomber has to know they’re running on very little sleep at this point.

“Five pips, remember, John? It’s a countdown. We’ve only had four.”

They turn in the brother to Lestrade but take the thumb drive with them.

\-----

John takes another nap and is back up again when he hears Sherlock shouting at the television. He begins typing up the Chinese acrobat case on his laptop while the detective watches some crap reality show. The sitting room is cold tonight, so they’re in their jackets. Iris curled up in John’s usual chair, watching along with a cup of steaming tea.

“No, no, _no_! Of _course_ he’s not the boy’s father!” Iris giggles from the side, clearly being entertained more by his own father’s antics than the show itself.

“Knew it was dangerous.” John says offhandedly.

“Hmm.” Sherlock says never taking his eyes off the screen.

“Getting you into crap telly.” He says, making Iris laugh loudly. John smiles at them both, neither of them seeing him. He likes this, this calm atmosphere as the two Omegas he’s smitten with enjoy themselves. The glass may be broken in the window, Sherlock and he might not have resolved their issues yet, but they both smell like him and he smells like them. It just makes his heart sink to think he could lose it. But Sherlock has been acting more normal around him again, he didn’t wash the scarf before putting it back on, letting him be essentially scented again, though not by direct contact, so it seems for the moment like they’ll get back on track. It may take some extra time, but he feels hopeful.

“Have you given Mycroft the memory stick yet?”

“Yep.” Sherlock says, popping the P sound. “He was over the moon. Threatened me with a knighthood…again.” Sherlock shivers a bit as a breeze comes through the window.

“You know, I’m still waiting.” John says.

“Hmm.” Sherlock once again says, putting his massive vocabulary to use.

“For you to admit that a little knowledge of the solar system and you’d have cleared up the fake painting a lot quicker.” Iris looks round at John, with an ‘oh shit’ kind of look on his face.

“Didn’t do _you_ any good, did it?” Sherlock shoots back.

“No, but I’m not the world’s only consulting detective.”

“True.” Sherlock says and John can hear the smile in his voice. John closes the laptop, he’s nowhere close to finishing the work but he discovered earlier that his bottle of CLP was missing and he really wanted to clean his pistol tonight since it got fired. He found a place only a few blocks down the road that if he hurries will still be open.

“You both know that Alpha and Omega genes run in families, yeah?” John moves the chair, getting up for a stretch.

The Omegas look at each other and then John with confusion on their faces. Sherlock mutes the telly, clearly intrigued by what John is thinking. “Yes. Omegas are likely to give birth to only one type of offspring, predominantly. It’s likely if I were to have another child, if female she would be an Omega like Iris, though if they were male it would be more typical for them to be a Beta, since Omega males are rare. Though I think the rate of a male being an Omega would be — a 34 percent higher chance overall.”

John nods. “It’s why you see a lot of families with female Omegas and male Betas. They were likely supposed to be Omegas but didn’t fall into the range. My own sister is the reason why I was born. Once they found out mom could produce Alphas they tried to have as many as they could before she died. Sadly they only got me.” Iris and Sherlock watch him, unsure of what he’s getting at. “Sherlock, you should tell your brother that he needs to be more careful about losing his cool around Alphas.” John raises an eyebrow. Both Omega’s eyes go wide.

“No...” Iris says, then looks toward his dad for confirmation. Sherlock stares at John, squinting, clearly still thinking. His eyes start to shift around and he’s lost to his mind palace. John can help but smirk that he knew something that even Sherlock seems to have unaware of, like when he announced that Iris was an Omega.

John asks Iris if he knows where his CLP for his weapon went, if they maybe used it in an experiment, but Iris says they haven’t. John bids Iris farewell, that he’ll be back once he gets the CLP for his weapon, that he’s going to walk to save some money.

Iris is left alone. His dad is still in the room but with him lost in his mind palace he decides to head for a shower and to bed for the night.

\-----

Sherlock comes back from his mind with a confirmation to John’s implied question, but the Alpha isn’t there. It’s completely black outside and the flat is quiet. The detective grabs his laptop from beside him. He lost a bit of time, John getting him caught up in analyzing his brother, which he didn’t really need but it’s annoying nonetheless. On his website he decides to meet the bomber, telling him to meet at the pool where this whole thing began. He had theorized that the final test was the Andrew West case and he had solved it, making a copy of the missile plans that he could bring along before he gave the original to his brother. Once he sends the message he grabs John’s weapon and is off to the pool.

He makes sure to hang his coat before he goes into the pool area. If he’s pushed in the coat would get weighed down in the water and potentially be the death of him. He moves in through the door to the pool area, silent in his steps though he lets the door close loudly anyways. Sherlock knows the bomber will be here, in fact he’s counting on it. He holds his hands behind him, thumb drive in hand, he twirls in nervously. He’s meeting Moriarty, the only one who could have truly set this all up and the name the curator had told Lestrade and himself was the mastermind behind getting the forged painting authenticated.

Sherlock looks onto the second deck of the pool, but sees no one else around. “Brought you a little getting-to-know-you present.” He sticks his hand into the air with the thumb drive, showing it off to the cameras he knows must be hidden. “Oh, that’s what it’s all been for, hasn’t it? All your little puzzles; making me dance – all to distract me from _this._” He turns around, trying to catch a glimpse of a camera or a person. Behind him he hears a door creek open and when he turns, the last person he thought he would ever see steps out of the door.

John stands before him in a bulky green coat with a fur hood, his hands in the pockets. Sherlock doesn’t recognize it as one of the Alphas and just stands there stunned, his hand still outstretched with the thumb drive. There is no way John would have been able to organize this whole thing, his thoughts swirl and spiral out of control as dread seeps into his heart. ‘Had John really been a mastermind all along? Someone so smart that even he couldn’t detect it? Was the fact that John was an Alpha clouding his mind? The lines ‘You’ll be happy together’ and ‘We were made for each other’ playing over and over in his head. Had he let a dangerous man into his and Iris’s lives?’ John _was_ there conveniently when the first Moriarty case ever showed up.

“Evening.” John stays steadily. But as Sherlock looks on, John’s eyes rapidly blink, then slow down, then rapidly blink again. He recognizes it as an S.O.S message that soldiers are taught to use when on video as a hostage.

Sherlock begins to lower his hand, still shocked but starting to reboot his brain. If John is sending him an S.O.S then he’s not the bomber, right?

“This is a turn-up, isn’t it, Sherlock?" John stays completely still.

“John…what the hell?” The detective is so stunned he loses his filter for just a moment and curses.

“Bet you never saw _this_ coming.” John says flatly. Sherlock takes a few steps closer, he can’t believe John would do something like this.

John opens the coat and that’s when the whole situation flips upside down. Strapped to John is a vest with multiple explosive components, just like the hostages from all the bomber’s tests. Additionally, he can see an Omega’s leather mating collar which is clasped around his neck, which is confusing as that hadn’t been part of the other tests. Sherlock feels both relief and the worst fear of his life as he deduces that John isn’t Moriarty but he _is_ in terrible danger. Moriarty had tested them both, the cases each having some connection to them. He had been toying with them, striking at the perfect time when their relationship was vulnerable, right after his heat. In fact, Moriarty would have had to have planned this with Sherlock’s heat in mind, as Connie Prince was killed two days before her test was given to them. He must have known that John would do something that would make Sherlock angry, or at least that they would be on edge from it all.

“What — would you like me — to make him say — next?” John opens the jacket further and a red laser sight dot appears, ready to shoot the Alpha at any moment. Sherlock takes a few more steps forward, looking around the upper deck again, but he sees nothing. “Gottle o’ geer ... gottle o’ geer ... gottle o’ geer.” John says, clearly being talked to through an earpiece, once again confirming that he has become the hostage for this final challenge.

“Stop it.” The detective says, upset that John is being used as a pawn against him.

“Nice touch, this: the pool where little Carl died. I stopped him.” Sherlock is only a few feet away now from John. The Alpha pauses for a moment, composing himself. “I can stop John Watson too.” John looks down at the red dot. “Stop his heart.” John licks his lips, then swallows.

“Who are you?” Sherlock asks the pool, turning his back on John who isn’t the threat he thought he was.

Another door toward the back of the pool squeaks open and a man stands there obscured from view. “I gave you my number” He says in a strange pitiful voice. “I thought you might call.” Sherlock tries to get a small glimpse, thinking Moriarty will hide himself from view the whole time but he doesn’t instead the man steps fully through the door letting it close behind him. He’s dressed in a full suit and tie, expensive quality and perfectly tailored. What’s more shocking about him however, is that he’s the man that Molly introduced as her boyfriend just a few short days ago. Sherlock had dismissed him easily at the time, too swept up in the bomber case to pay attention to a new person. He had made quick deductions from the supposed Betas clothes and looks. It’s possible he wasn’t even a Beta, for all Sherlock knew he could be any of the secondary genders. Moriarty was clearly able to fool him, which means he’s more dangerous than Sherlock originally thought he would be.

“Is that a British Army Browning L9A1 in your pocket ...” The man says, head down as he walks along the side of the pool. “Or are you just pleased to see me?” The euphemism doesn’t go unnoticed by Sherlock but he doesn’t let the disgust show on his face.

“Both.” Sherlock says, raising the pistol and pointing it straight at the guy, who stops and faces Sherlock head on.

“Jim Moriarty.” He says in a silky voice. “HI!” Moriarty then says in a strange high pitched voice, one might use when excited, but it feels too flat. It sends a chill through Sherlock’s spine. “_Jim?_ Jim from the hospital?” Moriarty continues walking once again, the detective following his movement with the pistol, bringing his other hand up to steady the weapon. It’s heavier than he feels like it should be, so unused to carrying a weapon, never usually needing one. The weight of it clearly more suited to John’s Alpha strength.

Jim bites his lip, disappointed. “Oh. Did I really make such a fleeting impression? But then, I suppose, that _was_ rather the point.” He smiles as he reaches the other side of the deep end, water no longer between them. Sherlock looks over to John as the red dot quivers.

“Don’t be silly. Someone else is holding the rifle. I don’t like getting my hands dirty.” Moriarty hasn’t removed his hands from his pockets and it sets Sherlock on edge. “I’ve given you a glimpse, Sherlock, just a teensy glimpse of what I’ve got going on out there in the big bad world. I’m a specialist, you see...” Moriarty’s face changes through multiple expressions in an instant before it lands on something like surprise, his eyes wide as he stares at Sherlock. “Like you!”

Sherlock hates the comparison, makes a bit of bile start to rise in his throat. “Dear Jim. Please will you fix it for me to get rid of my lover’s nasty sister?” Jim smiles and licks his lips, walking once again toward Sherlock, seeming to not care that he has a weapon pointed at him. “Dear Jim. Please will you fix it for me to disappear to South America?” The detective uses two examples from the tests they were given.

“Just so.” Jim says, stopping.

“Consulting criminal…brilliant.” Sherlock says softly. John stares at the floor barely breathing. He hates the way Moriarty is speaking to Sherlock, it sounds too calm, too much like he’s enjoying himself.

“Isn’t it?” Moriarty says, smiling to the point he closes his eyes looking proud. “No-one ever gets to me – and no-one ever will.” The cheerful expression falls just as suddenly as it had appeared with the compliment. The man before Sherlock ever changing.

“_I_ did.” The detective says, cocking the gun which sounds terribly loud and aggressive in the quiet space.

Moriarty doesn’t even blink. “You’ve come the closest. Now you’re in my _way_.”

“Thank you.”

“Didn’t mean it as a compliment.”

“Yes you did.” Sherlock insists.

“_Yeah_, okay I did.” Jim shrugs his shoulders in an over the top way. “But the flirting’s over, Sherlock.” He starts strolling over, once again ignoring any threat Sherlock might pose. “Daddy’s had enough now!” He sing songs in a high pitched voice.

Sherlock tries to plan his next move, he’s clearly not playing the game as well as he thought he had been. Moriarty has them in a trap and even if he kills the master criminal, he’ll lose John and most likely be killed himself when the sniper sets off the bomb.

“I’ve shown you what I can do. I’ve shown both of you what I can do. Isn’t that right Johnny boy.” John closes his eyes and lets out a slow breath. Sherlock’s eyes flicker to him, wondering what exactly Moriarty did in between abducting John and them arriving here. “I like solving people’s problems, I’m willing to pay thirty million quid just to get you to come out and play with me.” Jim reaches John, standing just behind him. “You see, my favorite crime is one that millions of people want all over the world.” He looks at Sherlock expectantly.

The detective stays still, he searches his mind for a crime that millions of people would want, but dismisses most as things the common person wouldn’t seek out.

“Well aren’t you going to ask me?” Moriarty taunts him.

“What do they want?” Sherlock relents.

“Oh, it’s something I think even _you _would have asked me for, if I had had the answer back then.” Now the detective is really confused, he’s never wanted a crime to be committed for himself.

“Is that so?”

“Oh yes. See, the Omega Mandate has been around for many years now and a lot of people aren’t happy about that.” He says matter of fact. Sherlock stares at him flabbergasted. “So many people who get early testing of their genes, only to find out that one day they’re going to be forced by the government to make little pups. All so we can have Alphas again.” He puts his hand on John’s shoulder and the Alpha bares his teeth, but holds back the snarl Sherlock knows he wants to let out.

“So what? You fake them giving birth, buy babies from out of the country and put them into the hands of Omegas who turn them over to be adopted?” It’s the most logical thing Sherlock can think of. Starving people in poor countries are willing to sell anything sometimes for money, that or drug addicted parents who need their next hit. The human trafficking trade is huge and Moriarty would likely have no problem contributing.

“Oh, Sherly, you need to think more outside the box.” Jim looks so proud of himself. Out of his pocket he produces a small glass vile. “Now this little beauty…well. It’s my own invention. It took a few years to figure out but I thought, what if instead of doing something _boring_ like what you said, what _if_ I could make Omegas stop having heats.” He grins like the Cheshire cat. “A one time dose of this and an Omega will never have another heat the rest of their lives. Rendering them as useless to mating as a common Beta. Or in the case of a male Omega like you, completely sterile.”

Sherlock’s eyes grow wider as Jim continues talking. He’s completely right, if Sherlock had known he was going to be an Omega and that he could take a simple dose of something to never have to deal with children, he would have. He’s horrified at the notion that he would have gladly done it, would have never met his beautiful pup Iris, who looks and sounds just like him, who he loves more than anything in this world.

“Of course, developing something like this isn’t easy and there were complications along the way. The best thing I found was a different drug, one that did the exact opposite of this one. A compound that makes an Omega go into an immediate heat, forcing their body to mature, but stripping them of their mind in its intensity. So mindless in fact they either breed or die from the overwhelming heat.” Moriarty doesn’t take his eyes off of John.

The Alpha’s pine forest scent can suddenly be smelled through the air, sour and bitter, his face one of horrified shock. Sherlock’s face turns to full confusion, the uninterested mask he had on his face breaking.

“Ohhh. What an interesting reaction.” Jim’s voice is high again, faking his enthusiasm, or maybe not. “Oh, Johnny boy didn’t tell you Sherlock, but he had a bit of a run in with one of these Omegas at the clinic. He didn’t take it too well.” Moriarty pouts but then roughly grabs a hold of the collar and spins it around, showing a deep bite mark in the leather. John faces away from them both, head hung in shame. Sherlock’s mouth feels dry, the leather collar must be the same from the clinic, otherwise Jim wouldn’t have placed it around John’s throat. The bite would have been a bonding bite had the collar not been in the way, it crushes his heart to know that John had tried to mate someone else. But at the same time, he had clearly been manipulated into the situation by Moriarty.

"So take this as a friendly warning, my dear...back off.” The way Moriarty says it doesn’t sound threatening in the traditional yelling or screaming way most people would expect. It’s threatening because of how calm the man is, standing there looking like he controls the whole room. “Although I have _loved_ this – this little game of ours.” He smirks.

“I _will_ stop you.” Sherlock says, voice steady.

“No you won’t.” Jim shakes his head.

There’s a moment where the two stare each other down and Moriarty rubs at John’s shoulder. “Here, take it.” Sherlock relents, holding out the missile plans with one hand but never taking the pistol off of Moriarty.

“Oh. Hmm, that.” Jim gets closer to Sherlock turning his back on John and taking the thumb drive between two fingers. Sherlock tries to get a whiff of Moriarty’s scent, but there’s nothing there. But it’s not like a Beta, Betas still have scent, just mild. No this is different, it’s not a masked scent it’s a complete absence of any unique smell. “The missile plans!” He kisses the thumb drive, then chucks it to the side into the pool. “Boring!” Sherlock watches for just a moment as the plans sink. “_I _could have got them anywhere.” He flashes a maniacal grin.

From behind John takes his chance, he grabs Moriarty but it’s hard to get his arm around in a choke hold due to the explosives on his chest. “Sherlock run!” The Alpha yells, but Sherlock merely backs up a few paces, putting a bit more room between them, pistol still trained on Moriarty.

Jim laughs in delight, causing Sherlock’s eyes to widen as the strange and unexpected behavior. “Good! _Very _Good!” His grin is wide and crazy looking.

“If your sniper pulls that trigger, Mr Moriarty, then we both go up.” John snarls into his ear, Alpha aggression growing each moment, scent permeating the air. Sherlock looks around, trying to get all the information on the situation.

“Isn’t he sweet? I can see why you like having him around. But then people do get so sentimental about their pets. Course, you know you’re supposed to neuter them, they can be a little too wild if you don’t.” John tugs on him harshly and Moriarty’s mask drops in a grimace of pain for just a moment. “They’re so touchingly loyal when you don’t wag a better treat in front of their face.” Jim says, turning toward John to say it directly to him. “Opps! You’ve rather shown your hand there.” Moriarty goes back to smiling and John’s face turns to terror when he sees the red dot of a sniper on Sherlock’s forehead.

The detective blinks slowly and looks down defeated. He thought he was smart enough to take on Moriarty but it appears the man has thought of it all. He’s played John, used the Alpha as a pawn and tried to pit them against each other. He picked the perfect time to implement his plan, because he knew they would have to be separate for a time and he could manipulate the situation to break them.

“Gotcha!” Jim says, his sing song voice back for a moment. John lets him go, backing up several feet with his hands in the air. He’s not willing to risk Sherlock’s life but was willing to give up his own. If they weren’t in a dangerous situation the detective might just wrap him in a hug and scent him until he can’t tell who smells of who more.

Moriarty fixes his suit with a ‘How rude, can you believe this guy?’ look on his face. “Westwood.” He says, theatrically swiping at the jacket before gesturing to it indignantly. “D’you know what happens if you don’t leave me alone, Sherlock, to _you_?”

“Oh, let me guess: I get killed.” Sherlock says it in his most bored tone but it eats at John to know that his answer is most definitely correct.

“Kill you?” Moriarty makes a face, grimacing. “N-No, don’t be obvious. I mean, I’m gonna kill you anyway someday. I don’t wanna rush it, though. I’m saving it up for something special. No-no-no-no-no. If you don’t stop prying…” He pauses, clearly being dramatic which he seems to enjoy being. “I’ll _burn_ you.” He says it low and menacing. “I will burn…the _heart_ out of you.” Moriarty’s eyes go wide, a sneer heard in his words.

“I have been reliably informed that I don’t have one.” He wills himself not to think of Iris in that moment. Moriarty hasn’t mentioned him but the master mind criminal knows he exists, knows what they are. He also knows that Sherlock has let John get close, maybe too close, maybe not close enough.

“But we both know that’s not _quite_ true.” Jim smiles but it falls quickly. “Well, I’d better be off.” He shrugs, like they’ve just been having a lovely chat and now he has to get home for dinner. “Well, so nice to have had a proper chat.” He licks his lips as he looks at Sherlock.

“What if I was to shoot you now. Right now?” The detective says raising the pistol a little higher.

“Then you could cherish the look of surprise on my face.” He opens his mouth and eyes wide, an over exaggeration before grinning. “Cause I’d be surprised, Sherlock; really I would.” He scrunches his face up. “And just a teensy bit disappointed. And of course you wouldn’t be able to cherish it for very long.” Sherlock stares unblinking, considering if he should be done with it all. “Ciao, Sherlock Holmes.” Moriarty says before turning around and leaving through the door John came through.

“Catch — you — later.” Sherlock says, walking toward John in order to keep the pistol trained on the killer.

The door opens just a bit and Moriarty’s voice can be heard, sing song once again: “No you won’t!” before it closes a final time.

They both let a moment pass waiting for something to go south, but then Sherlock is dropping the weapon and rushing to John tugging at the zipper to the vest he is wearing. “Are you all right?” Sherlock yells.

“Yeah. Yeah. I’m fine.” John says. His adrenaline was high and now that it’s coming down it’s like he’s slowed down to a crawl, barely giving an answer and unable to help as Sherlock grabs at the coat. “Sherlock.” The detective ignores him, breathing rapidly as he pulls on the jacket for the last time, ripping the bomb off of the Alpha and sliding it across the floor away from them. “Sherlock!”

The bomb now away from the two of them, the detective stares at John a moment as the Alpha gulps down fresh lungfuls of air. Once determining that John is out of danger, Sherlock grabs the pistol and goes to the door the mad man disappeared through, analyzing their new situation. When he gets back John is leaning against the metal of a changing room, still breathing hard.

“Are you okay?” John finally gets to ask as his brain starts to come back online. After grabbing a hold of Moriarty he had lost himself for a moment as his instincts took over, though he feels like he maintained composure well enough.

“Me? Yeah, I’m fine, I’m fine. Fine.” Sherlock says while scratching his head with John’s weapon, something he would have chastised him for on a normal day but couldn’t be bothered with at this moment.

“We should ah… have that talk you know. The one you…the one you, um wanted to have. It would be…ah….good.” Sherlock’s brain had been running on the high of the chase and he had thought everything would turn out fine in the end. They had had their recent scare with the Chinese gang, they couldn’t possibly be in that much danger so quickly again, right? But they had been and this showed him just how much the Alpha cared for him and what he was willing to do for them. They need to patch this thing they had going back up and he has a bad but oh so good idea forming in his head.

“Yeah. Sure.” John says staring blankly ahead, still contemplating life and all its meaning. The Alpha starts to get up as Sherlock continues the pacing back and forth he had started earlier, but stops when he sees a sniper's red dot on his chest once again. “Oh.”

“SORRY BOYS!” Moriarty’s voice rings out loud and clear in the pool. “I’m soooo changeable!” He sounds thrilled. Sherlock looks up, trying to judge how many snipers there are as more dots appear on them both. “It is a weakness with me but, to be fair to myself, it is my _only_ weakness. You can’t be allowed to continue. You just can’t. I _would_ try to convince you but ...” He scoffs to himself. “everything I have to say has already crossed your mind!”

Sherlock looks to John, they haven’t gotten to the level of silent communication that he and Iris have, but he bores his light eyes into the Alpha’s darker ones, asking for the permission to take this as far as it needs to go. He can see the understanding as John nods once, giving him the go-ahead. “Probably my answer has crossed yours.” Sherlock says, swinging the pistol around to once again point it at Moriarty. The man has no reaction until the detective starts to slowly lower it toward the bomb vest on the ground, prompting just the slightest hint of anxiousness if only for a moment, which then morphs into a smile a moment later.

As they have a stare down, once again both judging and silently posturing toward one another a song begins to play, echoing off the walls. Sherlock breaks eye contact first, likely not the best thing to do when a killer is staring you down but he can’t help but look around in confusion. At first he thinks that it must be one of the snipers because the song playing is ‘Staying Alive’ and that seems rather fitting. But when he looks back at Moriarty the man has an exasperated look on his face, like he can’t believe their dramatic showdown has been interrupted.

“D’you mind if I get that?” Moriarty says it like a normal guy, as if they’re all just out to lunch and he thinks they might find it rude of him to answer his phone.

“No, no, please. You’ve got the rest of your life.”

“Hello? — Yes, of course it is. What do you want?” He sounds mildly annoyed and mouths ‘Sorry’ over at them.

Sherlock mouths back ‘No, it’s fine.’ but internally he’s trying to find a perfect moment of potential escape.

“SAY THAT AGAIN!” Moriarty yells into the phone. “Say that again, and know that if you’re lying to me, I will find you and I will _ssssskin _you.” Sherlock looks to John but the Alpha just stares at the madman. “Wait.” He tells the other person on the line.

Jim walks silently toward them, positioning himself to stand directly over the bomb. “Sorry. Wrong day to die.”

“Oh, did you get a better offer?” He nods toward the phone.

“You’ll be hearing from me Sherlock.” Moriarty turns about and strolls back around the pool, headed toward the door he first came through. “So if you have what you say you have, I will make you rich. If you don’t, I’ll make you into shoes.” When he reaches the door, he raises his hand and snaps his fingers. Instantly the red lasers of the snipers disappear as well as Moriarty through the door.

The silence that follows is almost deafening. They had thought only a few minutes ago that they had escaped and then Moriarty had come back. Now he suddenly leaves once again and the two of them hesitate to believe that they’ve gotten away twice.

John ends up being the braver of the two as Sherlock stands poised for the other shoe to drop again. “What happened there?” The Alpha stands up still using the metal behind him to keep him up.

“Someone changed his mind. The question is: who?”

“If we ever find out we can thank them later. Best be off, while we still can. I doubt we’ll get lucky a third time.” They look at each other before both bolting for the door. The adrenaline pumping once again as they run outside, Sherlock having grabbed his coat and shoved the pistol inside. It’s cold out but Sherlock keeps running, not willing to wait around for a cab so close to where Moriarty still might be. John keeps back a few paces but together they run as Sherlock looks for a spot to enact his own plan on the Alpha.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please let me know what you think by adding a comment and I will do my best to get back to everyone. We are coming down to the last one maybe two chapters if I go to far and that slow burn tag is about to be fulfilled next chapter, along with all those other naughty tags that I haven't used yet.


	10. Heat Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John and Sherlock have escaped Moriarty with their lives. As they run back to the flat, Sherlock enacts the plan he had been sitting on since after the explosion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo everyone and welcome back! I hope everyone's doing well and that you are all keeping safe during these troubling times. I have had some big roller coaster rides over the past few weeks, so thank you everyone for being patient and waiting for this new chapter. I will say that this chapter has not been beta read, I suspect that my beta reader isn't doing as well as I am so I am giving her a break but that meant that I had to edit this chapter multiple times until I was finally happy with it. There is some dialogue I'm not fully satisfied with toward the end, but I don't want to hold it any longer.
> 
> As of 8/9/20 I have updated the chapter again.
> 
> Please enjoy the latest chapter of Double Down and as always my work is completely based on fiction and I do not condone the behavior in it in real life, this is all just fantasy.

Running down sidewalks and dark alleyways, it feels like they are back on their first case again. Sherlock can hear John behind him, the Alpha laughing aloud with glee. The rush of their near death experiences making them giddy, the two of them both perfectly happy to run home when they could easily stop for a cab instead. When Sherlock knows they’re about five minutes from the flat he turns down an alley and in the moment that John can’t see him he stops and turns around.

John runs into the semi-darkness, believing the chase is still on, only to almost barrel directly into Sherlock. He stops just in time, chest to chest with the detective, who looks down, a smirk on his face. The Omega wraps his arms around John’s broad shoulders and bends that slightest bit down to give him a full hug. John stays still, only both of their labored breathing can be felt for a moment, before the Alpha wraps his arms around Sherlock’s tiny waist, pulling him as close as he can. Neither of them hesitate once they’re enveloped in each other, both tilting their heads to the side to scent each other roughly, naturally coming together as Alpha and Omega. Their scents swirl around them in the small space as they get more bold, their hands grasping and kneading at flesh still covered by clothing. John growls out a pleased noise, his Alpha having already been breaking out during the run, the chase making him feel _alive_. When Sherlock gets a little aggressive, nipping at John’s ear the Alpha easily swings the lithe detective around, pinning him to a wall.

“We should stop meeting like this.” John says flirtatiously, his voice deep and throaty, sending shivers down the Omega’s spine.

“Yeah, someone might get the wrong idea about us.” Sherlock giggles and John laughs along with him before pulling back to look at the Omega’s face.

“We haven’t talked.” John states, his blue eyes pinching together, smirk fading, the memories of everything thast happened for the past few days coming back to push his Alpha side down. Memories of Sherlock cross with him, Iris upset and anxious, while he himself was confused and uncertain, trying his best to work it all out while also dealing with Moriarty’s sick games.

“We’ll talk, just not now.” Sherlock rolls his hips and John can feel the beginning of the detective’s arousal against his belly, his own which he had been trying to ignore stirs at the sensual motion.

“Sherlock. You’ve been cross with me for days, we’re just affected by the run. We’ve almost triggered a mating run by accident.” Sherlock this time is the one to smirk and John looks on confused.

“I don’t do _anything_ by accident and I haven’t been cross with you, you just haven’t been paying enough attention. _But — _you were focused on the case for me so — I don’t mind.” Sherlock purrs and nuzzles his nose into John’s scent gland, leaving small kisses on his skin. He won’t let John’s amazing control over himself get in the way of making him _his_, not when he’s made up his mind. Not when he realized how much he needed John, in that moment where the Alpha tried to sacrifice himself by grabbing Moriarty. He had already know before, when John had shot the cabbie but hadn’t been confident enough to act. He’s acting now, he isn’t going to let this man go, he’s going to make sure of that.

“I was trying to get back into your good graces.” John tilts his head to let the Omega have more access to his neck.

“You were attempting to court me.” Sherlock breathes in a big calming breath, filling his nose with the Alpha’s forest scent. The very fragrance that’s been taunting him finally his to fully enjoy for the moment.

“I _want_ to court you. I’ve been struggling to show you my worth this whole case because I just can’t see life without you now. You’re so different, you’re not a shy meek Omega, you’re strong and bold, you put people in their place, and you aren’t afraid to stand up and do what’s right.” John says firmly.

“Well good news, you don’t have to court me anymore, you already succeeded. You gave me food, protected me from bad guys, and did all the things I asked of you.” The detective lays everything out, like this was a case. “I never thought I would say this before I met you, but I accept your courting, I want to be _your _Omega. I want you to be _my_ Alpha.” Sherlock says firmly, right into John’s ear.

“But — but what about everything that happened with Iris, you can’t just say yes to me without talking about what _happened_.” Sherlock moves his hands to wrap around John’s head, scratching at his scalp in a calming way. He pulls back to look directly into the Alpha’s eyes.

“John. Iris explained the false heat and everything that happened. I _trust_ my pup and I’m sorry I didn’t trust _you_ in that moment. I thought I knew everything from a single look, but as I tried to tell you that very next day, sometimes you need a second look at the evidence.” Sherlock smiles and John looks at him in awe.

In his head John starts analyzing how the detective has been treating him these past few days. He hadn’t kicked him out of the flat, hadn’t yelled past that first night and was acting no different than his usual strange self since the moment John walked back through that door. If anything, Sherlock had said many things along the lines of forgiving the Alpha, but he hadn’t taken them that way in the moment.

“You are _infuriating _sometimes.” John growls, smirking as he squeezes the detective in his arms. Happy to be finally be accepted, even if the circumstances are a little unorthodox. They can always talk it over later, when they’re safe at home instead of in a random alleyway.

“Hmmm. So I’ve been told.” He leans down and kisses John, using the hands he has on the Alpha’s head to tilt his face up. John eagerly returns the kiss, sealing his lips against the Omega’s, never wanting to be separated from them again. Tongues meet for the first time, twisting together as they taste each other, nails scrape across John’s neck but he barely notices as his own hands move down to grab at the detective’s ass. He can feel his control slipping as he unconsciously ruts himself against Sherlock who grinds back enthusiastically, the two becoming fully aroused in their trousers. They can feel the hardness of the others cock even through their clothes, John’s large and thick against Sherlock’s smaller one. It makes them both moan when the Alpha thrusts just right to slide them both together, the delicious friction furthering their desire.

It takes some time but John finally gets his head back on his shoulders long enough to get out of Sherlock’s enticing scent, pulling away from soft lips but not before taking the Omega’s lower one and giving it a little bite. Both of them are panting heavily and John licks his lips when he sees just how affected the detective looks. Sherlock’s chest is heaving as he gasps for breath, his eyes hazy with arousal, lips extra pink from their kissing.

The detective bites his bottom lip when he sees how John is looking at him, eyes becoming dark and hooded, a promise of pleasure written all over his face. He’s never felt more sure about something than he is at this very moment, that this decision with be one of the biggest he makes in his life.

“Run.” John growls out lowly. If Sherlock doesn’t finish the mating run by finding a ‘safe spot’ to mate, he’s not sure he can resist taking him right now where they stand. While he has this moment of clarity he needs to use it, he doesn’t want his future mate to remember their bond happening anywhere but in his own comfortable nest at home.

Sherlock takes a moment, pulls out his cellphone, shoots out a text and pockets it again. “Warning Iris.” He says, shrugging before taking off down the alley, long legs carrying him faster than he was running before, leaving behind the Alpha in a cloud of meadow grass pheromones.

John waits a moment, he knows he could catch the detective if he wanted to normally, but right now he’s fully erect, bulge tight against the front of his trousers and that is going to make it a little more difficult to run. He takes some calming breathes and rearranges himself so he doesn’t chaff off his dick in the next few minutes. He sniffs the air, picking up on the smell of Sherlock’s scent and takes off after the detective, on the hunt for his soon to be mate.

\-----

The Alpha’s heart is pounding just as hard as his feet are against the concrete below, his own powerful legs propelling him toward the flat. He catches the scent of slick in the air and howls out loud, his Alpha excited knowing that Sherlock is going into a false heat, the kind a mating run brings, so that they can bond outside of a normal heat. It gives him that little bit of extra strength to run faster, the flat coming into sight. As he practically leaps up the stoop, he finds the door is already open and slams it shut before running up the stairs two at a time. At the top he finds Sherlock tearing at his own coat, which he barely gets off before John is on him, grabbing him up in a possessive bruising hug. He can smell the meadow grass scent getting heavier as the detective’s body succumbs to the heat run.

“Gotcha.” He says while rubbing up against Sherlock’s chest coving him in more pine scent before tilting his head up for a kiss, which he gets, the detective grabbing at his face and pulling him in forcefully. The two of them struggle together, both trying to kick off their shoes, almost falling over in the process as they refuse to pull away from each other for even a single gasp of air. At the same time John is fumbling with Sherlock’s frustrating belt, which he eventually undoes before pulling it the whole way through the loops, sending it clattering to the sitting room floor.

With shoes finally kicked off somewhere, John lets out a deep growl and lifts up Sherlock by his tiny hips, hauling him up easily making the Omega wrap his legs around John’s sturdy hips. The smell of arousal in the air drives them both wild as John walks them to the detective’s room, Sherlock kissing his jawline and panting out little puffs of air in his ear as he’s carried. It makes the detective a tad embarrassed to be carried like this but he secretly loves it, being completely at the Alpha’s mercy. He would have never allowed someone to do this to him before but with John it just feels right.

Sherlock feels his first full wave of slick soak his pants as the Alpha kneads his strong hands into his thighs just below his ass as they maneuver through the kitchen. His hole clenches at the feeling and he lets out a soft groan that gets eaten up by an eager pair of lips covering his own. He kisses back, wanting to do whatever he can to satisfy the hunger building in his stomach, a possessiveness over the Alpha driving him forward.

They’re lucky the door to the bedroom is open, which John quickly remedies once they’re inside, kicking it shut behind him. He walks over to the bed and tips Sherlock backward, letting the two of them fall sideways into the nest. John gets on his knees caging in the slender Omega underneath him. Sherlock lifts his head with a whine, greedy to capture John’s lips and the Alpha obliges, kissing him roughly, forcing his head back down into the blankets. They both moan as they pick up where they left off in the alleyway, lips locked and tongues twirling together in ravenous passion, this time horizontally. Everything better now that they have the comfortable nest below them, smelling of home and soon to be their combined mating. A scent that will share together for the rest of their lives.

John’s hands roam down Sherlock’s chest to his stomach, pulling his fancy dress shirt out of his trousers to find the heated skin below. He rubs over the smooth skin of his soon to be Omega’s abdomen, feelings how flat it is before he fills him. He knows there will be no pup from a mating run bond, but his Alpha still goes crazy with the idea that Sherlock _is_ fertile and could someday give him a child if they wanted. At least this time, he’ll get to see and feel how swollen with seed he can make the Omega, which is more than enough to have him aching in his trousers. He pulls up a bit, nipping at Sherlock’s plush cupid’s bow, turning the flesh a deeper shade of red from the abuse. John doesn’t want to stop kissing but there are too many clothes in their way, he’s already heating up in the light sweater he has on over his own dress shirt.

Reluctantly pulling the rest of the way off, he sits up and strips his sweater off with abandon. His dress shirt fares worse when he rips it off, buttons be damned, he’s too impatient to undress properly right now especially with the way the detective is looking up at him, hair a messy halo of dark curls and eyes begging him to come back and finish what he started. But John hesitates instead staying still, willing his Alpha to calm down so he can drink in the marvelous sight below him. Sherlock looks up at him and licks his lips appreciatingly, staring up at the strong Alpha above him. But then looks a little confused when the Alpha doesn’t immediately pounce back on him. John looks down at the Omega’s shirt and back up with a cocky raise of his eyebrow. Suddenly, the detective’s hands are flying to his own shirt buttons in fear that they will end up like John’s which are now scattered over the bed. The Alpha just grins down at him darkly, watching as more and more beautiful pale skin is slowly revealed with the removal of each pesky button. The dark shirt falls to either side of Sherlock’s chest, letting John get his first look at his soon to be mate.

The Omega is thin, he already knew that from the moment he met Sherlock, but from where he hovers over him, he can see just the slightest showing of his bottom ribs, which John can’t help but rub his hands over as he leans down over him. He vows to himself that he will feed his mate enough to fill him out, make him healthier — happier.

John bends over and places a kiss on Sherlock’s stomach, then another and another, working his way slowly up and over his ribs. He can see goosebumps rise on the Omega’s flesh and when he gets up to that long pale neck, kissing it delicately he hears Sherlock’s breath hitch. The Alpha rumbles a bit, pleased that he’s affecting the detective, that changing the pace from fast to slow is throwing the normally calculated man off his game. John runs his tongue over a spot, gently sucking the skin before he nips it, causing the Omega’s hands to grip onto the Alpha’s sturdy biceps in shock.

“Ah!” The surprised but pleasurable noise comes out unexpectedly from Sherlock’s mouth, he didn’t even know he could make a sound like that. But John doesn’t stop, amazing him further by moving closer to his scent gland, each time repeating the same motion, licking over the spot gently before just lightly biting. He doesn’t lick it for the same amount each time, so each little nip comes as a surprise causing Sherlock’s cock to throb while at the same time he can feel his body opening up, preparing itself to take the Alpha. He’s never felt it like this before, the deeply buried hunger inside of him never happening outside of heat and before always a curse. But now, John is bringing it out with every move he makes and it’s glorious.

Sherlock is caught between the desire to get John to grind against him, to give him the friction against his bulge he wants even though they’re still clothed, or to wiggle his ass down into the bed, to get pressure against his clenching hole. He grumbles a little frustrated, hands kneading at the Alpha’s broad shoulders. When John wraps his whole mouth around his scent gland, teeth applying pressure without the warning lick, Sherlock’s body decides for him, his hips bucking up as he clutches desperately to John. But the Alpha’s hips are too high up and Sherlock lets out a needy whine when he gets no pleasure for his movements, his body trembling with want, his Omega’s yearning for the Alpha pushing him to submit in any way possible to get the Alpha to mate him.

John keeps the pressure on Sherlock’s gland and laves his tongue over it, making the detective continue to squirm, hips jumping, arms clinging to him as little noises between pleasure and desperation fall from those bowed lips. After teasing him for a while longer, John finally gives the Omega a break and pulls off with a little pop and kisses the now bruised flesh. He hears the detective let out a breathy sigh and the grip on his biceps lessens a bit as Sherlock relaxes into the bed after the all the teasing. The Alpha smirks and then kisses his way back down over alabaster kiss. He wants to mark it all as _his_, to let anyone who might see know that the Omega has been claimed thoroughly, but the smell of Sherlock’s slick is drawing him further down, pushing his Alpha to come out faster. To move _faster_. He puts his feet back on the floor, for a moment while he stripes efficiently, pulling off trousers, pants, and socks in one go, wasting little time, wanting his hands back on heated flesh as soon as possible.

Sherlock watches John as gets his breath back, just for it all to get knocked from his lungs at the sight of the naked Alpha in front of him. John has always kept himself covered under trousers and simple sweaters, hiding the powerful body that now stands before him. Alpha’s stay naturally sculped their whole lives, their nature being that of the protector and provider, their bodies perfectly crafted to do those jobs well. The Omega stares, drinking in the details of John’s abs and then blinks rapidly when he witnesses the Alpha’s engorged cock for the first time. Sherlock lays his head back on the bed in a small panic, suddenly not sure if this is the best idea, he’s not a virgin but he’s also never had something that big either.

John’s back on his Omega and removing his clothes as the detective lays still below him, heavily breathing and staring at the ceiling. John is gentle when he removes Sherlock’s clothes, making sure to not jostle him too much. He can tell from the scent in the air that the Omega is falling deeper into heat but it’s tinged with some anxiety. He throws everything to the ground and turns back to see Sherlock and _what _a sight he is. With everything gone he is all pale skin and lithe figure, beautiful like an ancient marble statue all laid out just for him. John tries not to stare too long, aware that Sherlock’s heat will begin hurting if he takes too long, but he can’t help himself, he’s been desperate to see this for so long.

John eventually gets down on his knees and taking each of detective’s long legs into a hand, he puts one behind his back and kisses the inner thigh of the other. As far as he knows, it has been sixteen years since Sherlock’s done this, so he wants to be careful not to hurt him, even as his inner Alpha roars at him to get on with it, telling him that he needs to take the Omega _now_, needs to make him _his_. John’s cock aches between his legs, neglected as he kisses up toward his prize, the scent of slick getting headier as he goes farther. He’s excited to see up close that Sherlock is very particular about his grooming, his dark hair short and neatly trimmed, making John realize the detective might have planned for this, since with how busy they were he would have had to actually care about his own body for a moment. So, Sherlock _had _thought about them mating before their run, had really listened to Iris’s explanations and knew them to be true. It makes the Alpha’s heart flip in his chest to know that he _has_ really been accepted, that this isn’t just a rash decision on both of their parts.

Smoothing his hands up the back of Sherlock’s thighs he lifts them up, giving him better access to see his goal, a pretty pink and slick soaked hole. John licks his lips when he sees the rim clench in anticipation, the Omega’s body knowing what’s going to happen. He pulls one hand down and runs his thumb over a cheek, gathering the clear liquid before sucking it from his finger. The flavor fills his senses and with a low groan he feels himself leak a spurt of precum down onto the floor as his cock pulses in arousal. He continues to ignore his own needs, not even putting a hand on himself, he instead swipes his thumb over Sherlock’s hole, watching it flutter and leak more slick as the false heat intensifies, bringing more scent with it.

Sherlock feels like his body is pure fire, the warmth in his belly becoming unbearable as he falls further into heat. John is taking it slow and it’s intense because each little thing the Alpha does sends luxurious pleasure shooting through him like he’s never felt before. At the first touch to his hole he moans out, his arms which had been limp by his sides twist to grab onto the sheets as his hips move, though he doesn’t know which way they’re going, both trying to get away and get closer to the unfamiliar sensation all at once. The pleasure of just that little motion, no more than a brush of skin on skin, has his eyes slamming shut and his pulse racing. He feels John come back with two fingers which dip into him easily, his body readily opening up for the Alpha, his mouth betraying him as he moans wantonly into the open air, gasping on air heavy with Alpha musk, which lights up the instincts he had always kept well hidden. Any thoughts of John not fitting inside him are gone, washed away by skilled hands.

John gets up further on the bed, bending the detective more as he looks down to watch as he prepares his slick hole, fingers slipping in and out of his warm body. He can see all of Sherlock like this. His cock lays long and swollen across his stomach, the pink head wet with his own precum. The look on that beautiful face he’s loved analyzing is completely new, eyes closed in a mix of confused arousal, biting at his plush lips, it’s something he thought he would never see. When John twists his two fingers inside Sherlock, the Omega’s stomach flexes and his cock twitches, as another obscene moan fills the air. The Alpha works him open, spreading his rim to get just a small peak inside of where he’s going to soon bury his knot.

With the practiced ease of a doctor, John hooks his fingers to apply pressure against Sherlock’s prostate and from his new position he watches as the Omega’s back arches, his head thrown back, long neck on full display. He circles and plays with it, grinning as the detective’s legs twitch, hole clenching down on his fingers, trying to pull him in deeper. He watches as a drop of precum slides sideways down Sherlock’s stomach and onto the bed. The Alpha has never had his mouth on a cock before, but as he witnesses a fresh bead of precum fall from the tip of the engorged head, he can’t imagine depriving his Omega of the experience.

Adding a third finger into the pure heat of the detective’s body, John lowers himself eye to shaft with Sherlock’s erection. It’s smaller than his own but long like the Omega, pale and smooth with a pretty pink head. He wastes only a moment before he flattens his tongue against the base and licks a broad stripe right up the front. He quickly has to use his free hand to hold down Sherlock’s hips as they buck up, desperate to get more.

“J-o-o-ohn-n!” The detective whines when the Alpha does it again, this time swirling his tongue around the head, capturing a new burst of precum.

“Responsive.” The Alpha growls out, amused. Sherlock just whimpers, words completely gone, his body doing all the talking for him as his heat takes over and he starts to run on instinct alone.

Not wanting to taunt him too much, John does smaller licks instead and finds as he does that he doesn’t mind the experience, it just tastes like skin. He delicately cleans the clear precum from Sherlock’s cock, finding that he likes the flavor. Which doesn’t surprise him considering he likes the taste of his own cum.

During all this, he adds a fourth finger, knowing that even once he thinks Sherlock is warmed up, he might not actually be ready. His own cock is thick and he’s going to have a hard time fitting in without a little pain even with the prep, at least in the beginning.

Underneath him, Sherlock is a mess. A light sheen of sweat covers his limbs and he wishes his covers we’re softer, the fabric sticking to him uncomfortably. He’s panting heavily and he can’t remember a time he’s felt this kind of pleasure, his whole body ready for even more as this wonderful Alpha takes care of him. The scent in the room has become a full mixture of his own light meadow grass and John’s dark pine, it’s musky and earthy and he wants to forever be drenched in it.

He longs to see what John looks like in this moment and attempts to lift his head, but he barely gets it off the bed when John decides to stop licking and instead start sucking the sensitive head of his cock. The Omega hears the obscene wet noise of John’s mouth as it works the tip, pressure from all sides slamming down, his concentration narrowed to that one piece of contact between them. He longs to have more of that sinful mouth on his flesh and he lifts his head again, this time managing to open his eyes to the sight of the Alpha staring up him with a heated gleam in his eyes. He can feel John’s fingers sliding in and out of him, the sensation making him burn higher as he’s pleasured from both sides.

Sherlock’s open mouth pants harder and he tries to speak what he wants from John. But communication isn’t apparently his strong suit while in heat. But John, lovely Alpha John seems to know exactly what to do as he slips his fingers further into his greedy hole while simultaneously bobbing his head down to take his firm cock further. It’s enough to make the Omega’s head spin, until he’s sure he’s about to burst.

John can tell Sherlock is getting close and pulls off his spit soaked cock with a pop. The detective’s hips chase the feeling, a high whine in his throat.

“Nnnnn — no. So close.” Sherlock pants out with little upset noises, his pretty pink cock bouncing and throbbing on his belly so much that John thinks he might just come untouched.

“Mmmm…not yet.” John says as he deems Sherlock’s rim to be stretched enough, pulling out his fingers before licking each one slowly, savoring the taste before climbing on the bed, positioning himself between his legs and leaning down to cage the Omega in. He caresses his face with reverent hands and brings their lips together, pouring his love into the action. Sherlock must feel it because he pushes into the kiss and wraps his arms around the Alpha’s back.

“Ready, Love?” John growls out, kissing the detective’s cheek and down his jawline.

“Yes — _please_, yes.” Sherlock gasps out, begging just that little bit that has the John’s Alpha howling in delight. He’s never seen the detective beg before, but after this he’s going to get him to do it every time.

The Alpha grabs a nearby pillow, briefly registering that they never turned the correct way on the bed, before shoving it under Sherlock’s hips for support, lifting him up into a better position. As much as taking him from behind would be easier and definitely more comfortable, he wants their first time to be face to face, as corny as it sounds. He wants to see the satisfaction he gives his new mate, wants to see what he looks like when he’s ramming into him.

John reaches down, taking himself in hand, he uses his thumb to spread his own precum around the tip then leisurely rubs his swollen head around Sherlock’s entrance, coating himself in slick and feeling the warmth of the Omega’s body. He can feel the movement of his rim as is pulses against the sensitive tip. He braces before slowly moving forward, holding his breath as he breaches his hole. He growls out a pleased noise against Sherlock’s scent gland as he gets his first taste of his tight hole, wrapping itself around him as he sinks just the tip in. Below him he can feel the detective tense up, so he stops, kissing Sherlock’s neck and rubbing his hand soothingly up his side.

“I—I don’t want to inflate your ego, but — ow.” Sherlock says breathless, a small moment of clarity slipping through the heat. That little worry of John not fitting coming back.

“You need to relax Love, no need to be tense.” John says, continuing to lightly kiss and nuzzle into the Omega’s neck. He doesn’t move his hips, doesn’t dare to push further into the heat he’s craving. Just stays as still as possible, feeling Sherlock’s heart beat through their chests pressed together tight, his own heart beat echoing back. John can feel when Sherlock makes the conscious decision to breathe out a long sigh, relaxing his muscles and causing the Alpha to accidentally slide in further with a low groan.

It's wet and hot, Sherlock’s body perfectly prepared. The sensation of it, the pure rush of finally getting to be inside of this man he’s been chasing, is so much that John’s whole body shakes as he controls and tames his needs. His Alpha wants to take and take, but he wants to give and give, the war of his two brains putting him on edge.

“That’s it, just let me take care of you.” He coos at Sherlock, pulling out the little bit he had sunk in, leaving just the tip before pushing slowly in again, sinking just a bit further each time. He sets a gentle rhythm to start, letting Sherlock’s slick coat his shaft a little more with each tender push.

The Omega below him sighs and grips onto him before starting to rock his own hips to the beat he’s started. It’s gentle and John pulls back to watch Sherlock’s face. He’s never seen the detective enjoy something like this before, only seen him happy about solving cases or finally having something ‘fun’ to be doing involving murder. So, when he sees Sherlock for the first time, he almost feels like crying at how beautiful he looks. His cheeks are flushed red, his mouth hanging open, eyes closed with a look of bliss. John keeps watching, sees the little changes in the Omega’s face as he pushes deeper. He leans over and kisses beside that open mouth and Sherlock chases the feeling, bringing his mouth to John’s, connecting them together once again.

John pours his feelings into the kiss, making sure that Sherlock knows that he loves him, even if he hasn’t gotten to say it yet. Even if he never gets the courage to say it out loud, his mate will know it from everything he does for him and for Iris.

As John pulls back from the kiss, his eyes connect with Sherlock’s for the briefest moment and he smiles, but the Omega is too overwhelmed and arches his back as John slips most of the way out and gives a full thrust, the Alpha himself moaning as he sinks fully into Sherlock for the first time. His vision goes fuzzy at the sensations now assaulting his cock as he keeps himself buried to the hilt, Sherlock’s insides massaging and pulling at him from all sides, slick coating him and starting to run down along one of his balls.

Sherlock isn’t sure he’ll ever come down from the high he feels when John finally seats himself fully into him, their bodies fitting together as the Alpha’s cock stretches him open. It’s so intensely satisfying that he feels nothing from the rest of his limbs, his whole body warm and floating as his head swims in their scents. At some point he must have wrapped his legs around John’s waist because when the Alpha draws back, he naturally tries to pull him back in, digging his heels into his back, chasing that full feeling he just had, craving more of what he’s just had a small taste of. A whimper escapes his throat before his breath is punched out by the Alpha’s next full thrust, the power of John’s legs evident as he’s pushed up the bed a bit. They both groan together at the satisfaction of their bodies coming together, naturally fitting as if they were made for each other.

The Alpha tucks his arms under Sherlock’s back, grabbing him by the shoulders to steady him, giving him the perfect grip to shove into the Omega. He’s been day dreaming about how Sherlock would feel wrapped about his shaft, how his tight velvet walls would grip and ripple with pleasure. It’s even better than he imagined as he thrusts in again, harder this time causing Sherlock to moan shamelessly beneath him, no sign of the earlier pain, his body fully taking the Alpha’s oversized cock. The time to go slow is over now, Sherlock’s fully stretched and John can’t hold back any longer.

“That’s it, Love. Being _so_ good for me. Going to be good to you.” Sherlock’s body gushes out more delicious slick when John pulls out and the slide is just that much easier, letting the Alpha know his Omega is indeed fully ready for him. John sets a brutal pace then, no longer holding his Alpha back as he growls. “_Mine_.”

Sherlock doesn’t even register the words, only feels the flames lick up his spine when John’s cock presses in forcefully, ramming into him, filling him full with each powerful stroke. It’s pure ecstasy as he feels his Omega dance in satisfaction as it gets what it always wanted. A strong confident Alpha fucking into him with abandon, his body used for pleasure, his Alpha giving that same pleasure back to him tenfold.

John doesn’t let up for a moment, his pace never faltering as he plunges into Sherlock’s wet hole, sliding his cock in and out of his rim, feeling it flutter against his slowly forming knot. It’s heaven. It’s bliss. It’s the intensely satisfying feeling of pleasing his new mate, that he’s in awe off, as he opens his eyes to the sight that is Sherlock Holmes. If he thought Sherlock was beautiful before, he was vastly unprepared for what the detective looks like when he’s being shoved upward with each powerful thrust, as his body swallows John hungerly.

His dark curls bounce, pale skin shimmering in the light from the street lamp outside. He looks like perfection and time slows as John admires him. Admires the creature he’s desired and is now taking as his own with reckless abandon. He’s beautiful, inside and out, he’s all that John wants and the Alpha is determined to keep him forever.

Driving himself deep into the Omega, he listens to the noises Sherlock makes before adjusting his thrusts. He’s searching for that one perfect spot, the one that will make the Omega scream for the a neighbor’s to hear, the one that will prove he’s not just in this to take pleasure for himself like a greedy Alpha but to give Sherlock pleasure beyond what he’s ever felt before. He adjusts each time and finally John both hears and feels the moment when he pushes in just right as Sherlock’s insides bear down on him and the detective shouts.

“YES!” The Omega exclaims as his heels dig into John’s lower back, his body going wild as John steadies his rhythm, shoving himself in the same way each time to keep Sherlock on edge for as long as possible. He can feel nails digging into his back as well and continues to watch the Omega’s pretty face, his mouth open as hot breaths are being punched out him. John can’t help the smirk that’s plastered to his face as he witnesses the raw pleasure he can give to Sherlock, though his breathing his labored and he might need to give the overwhelmed Omega a break.

The nails dig deeper into his back and John realizes that Sherlock is trying to pull him down, attempting to bring their chests back together. The Alpha let’s himself be guided. He slows his pace and then stops to lay down on him, his broad chest covering Sherlock’s slim figure, his cock nestled in tight heat. He can feel the Omega’s walls rippling once again as they milk his length and he’s sure Sherlock can feel as he throb with each pulse of his own heartbeat.

“J-John. Nnnnhh. _Please_.” Sherlock says it so quietly that had he been moving he wouldn’t have heard it. The needy whine to his voice is like music to John ears, letting him know he has the Omega’s full attention. Sherlock might not want the break but the Alpha knows when he needs to be fast and when to be slow, the highs and lows will keep Sherlock on edge and make it even better than if he were to simply fuck him all at once.

“You’re so warm Love. Feels amazing.” John says, nuzzling into Sherlock’s neck and licking at his scent gland, getting a rush from the way the Omega clenches around him each time he runs his tongue over it.

“Don’t stop. _Please_ don’t stop.” Sherlock begs and when all John does is keep licking him he whines again, digging his heals into John’s back, clearly talking about the pounding he was just getting and not the licking. “John. Please.” He begs again.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m not stopping.” John says, his voice low and teasing before he sucks on the gland again.

“N-not that, you know what — what I mean.” Sherlock says breathlessly and squirms under him, wiggling his ass to tempt the Alpha into moving again.

“Oh, you meant the other thing?” John says, pulling almost all the way out, keeping just his tip inside so he’s lined up. He’s not going to give it to him just yet, his Alpha side is enjoying the teasing a little too much.

Sherlock whines at the loss, but surprises John when he uses his legs to pull himself up and impale himself back onto the Alpha’s cock. John is the one to moan this time, the unexpected move turning him on as his Alpha revels in the desperation of the Omega to be stuffed full of _his_ cock. He keeps himself in the air and let’s Sherlock do it again, the Omega letting himself fall down onto the pillow before he tightens his abs and lifts himself back up, once again getting filled and stretched. John doesn’t let him go back down, instead gripping the Omega in one arm, which easily wraps around his thin hips, suspending him in the air keeping him plugged full.

“Desperate are we now.” John growls out, his smirk even wider now. Sherlock’s body fights against him, trying to fall back down so he can do it again, but John is too strong, easily holding on as Sherlock just barely manages to rock his hips for a minuscule amount of slide.

John pulls back and uses his other arm to slide over the flat expanse of the Omega’s belly. It won’t be too long before he’s swollen with seed. He pushes down lightly and can feel his tip through the Omega’s skin, which swells with the additional pressure. He takes it back off, not wanting to accidentally come before he’s knotted him and uses that hand to wrap around Sherlock’s cock instead.

The precum spreads easily as he lightly thumbs at the slit before griping the shaft. He’s teasing more than anything, causing Sherlock’s legs to vibrate in his hold as he forces the Omega’s pleasure to switch from his hole to his own cock. John wants this first time to have everything, for Sherlock to think back on it and jump him because he’d done an amazing job.

Sherlock’s stomach muscles jump and his cock throbs in the Alpha’s hand, he’s getting close but John wants him to come while knotted on his cock, not from his hand, so he stops and wraps his arm around the Omega’s hips. Before Sherlock can protest John pushes his body back down to the bed, pressing in deep before drawing back out and starting his rhythm back up. His knot begins to grow now with each push into the Omega’s body, his Alpha waiting no longer, his own body ready to make Sherlock his.

John shifts to bury his face in Sherlock’s scent gland, letting the intoxicating fragrance affect him more, letting it make his knot throb a little larger. He shallows out his thrusts, his knot slipping in and out, slick continuing to coat him as he gets his last final strokes, reveling in how good his soon to be mate feels. He wishes it could last forever, wants to never leave the soft flesh of Sherlock’s body. Wants to feel the two of them connected in the way only Alpha and Omega can be, locked together with their desire, prays they could stay that way for the rest of eternity.

His shallower thrusts are met with enthusiasm as Sherlock can feel the growing knot stretching him wider, his body naturally pulling John in. His body wants everything from the Alpha, he wants to be filled with John’s seed, his Omega reminding him how amazing he had felt to be full with a child once. It whispers to him that this time would be even better, because it would be with _this_ Alpha, with John who takes care of him and courted him properly, who will mate him properly.

John swivels his hips and grinds himself against Sherlock’s hole, his knot having now grown just a bit too much to slide in an out quickly. The warm soft flesh of the Omega’s rim clenches and tugs at him, begging him to continue his blissful intrusion, to sink himself as deep as he can go. He growls lowly and pulls out before slamming back in, knot getting a taste of the heat it had just been sinking into. Below him Sherlock is sweating and straining, pulling him in each time though his legs are starting to give out. He’s craving the Alpha’s knot just as much as John wants to give it to him.

“Please…_please_ Alpha.” Sherlock sobs into John’s ear and John loses himself to the pleasure. He thrusts harder against that sweet slick hole. _His_ Omega is begging for it and he can’t deny him. Will prove that he can fuck his Omega perfectly, can fill him with all the pups he could ever desire.

“Gonna make you _MINE_!” His Alpha is awake and out now, howling as his knot dips further and further into Sherlock’s wet heat with each forceful thrust. When he finally slips the largest part of his knot past that tight rim he snarls out in triumph as he sinks in and they lock together. Sherlock’s insides molding around him, baring down even as his knot begins fully inflating sealing them together in their sensual embrace.

John’s head is swimming in wonderful bliss, but that shifts when his knot hits a point in Sherlock that it becomes too much and he can feel a break. A pained hiccup, followed by the Omega’s whole body tensing can be felt as John’s knot breaks a piece of Sherlock that his scent had said was broken long ago.

“Ah-h-h.” The little pained sounds falling from those beautiful lips hurt John’s heart as he comes back, Alpha pushed to the side, but he realizes what’s happening too late, he can’t stop it now.

“Shhhh, Love. You’re doing great, just a bit more.” He soothes Sherlock with kisses on his face and he’s stuck between his own pleasure of velvet heat and the pain his knot puts his almost mate in. It doesn’t take much longer for his knot to finally reach its limit and he reflexively pushes deeper and comes, release numbing his body, as he pumps his seed deep into Sherlock’s womb, flooding him in spurts as he shudders and moans out in ecstasy. Through his own stomach pushed tight against Sherlock, he can feel as the Omega’s body start to swell, the start of a nice bump which causes him to twitch inside and fill him with a little extra cum.

John does his best to hold his weight and not to slump down in exhaustion. He could accidentally jostle the knot. When he looks up he’s happy to see that Sherlock’s face isn’t in pain anymore but his eyes are clear, the discomfort having knocked some of the heat out of him. He stares up at John in confusion, his eyes darting back and forth like he knows that what happened isn’t what was supposed to happen.

“John — you — didn’t mate me? And your knot really hurt.” Sherlock looks upset and John feels terrible because he knows why it hurt but didn’t know if would happen before it was too late.

The Alpha hugs Sherlock to him, kissing him. “I’m so sorry, I never smelled it, I couldn’t tell. If I’d have known I would have done this differently.” He apologizes.

“Tell me what?” Sherlock questions, though he relaxes a little as John kisses him, feeling that the Alpha is truly sorry for whatever just happened.

“I —” John fumbles for the words, not wanting to upset the detective. “I don’t want to sound like _that_ macho kind of Alpha but… it hurt because my knot is bigger than _his_ was and your virginity wasn’t fully broken.” John tries his best not to grin even as his Alpha is thrilled that Sherlock will forever perfectly fit on _his_ knot.

“Oh.” Is all Sherlock can say, his face betraying that that wasn’t what he expected the answer to be, bewilderment the only way John could describe it.

“It won’t happen like that again and as for mating, don’t think you’re getting out of _that_.” He bends down and licks over Sherlock’s bruised scent gland, earning him a groan. “I would be a bad Alpha if I mated you while you were in pain, we need to _both_ be enjoying it to make our bond.” He snakes his hand down Sherlock’s chest to the Omega’s cock. He finds that the discomfort had made him soft, so he gathers the precum he finds and rubs it over the head like before, beginning to coax him back to full hardness.

“Mmmm. Feels nice.” Sherlock hums. John kisses him and he can feel the apology from John as he’s gentle with his lips, kissing him slowly with patient passion.

He doesn’t blamed the Alpha for not knowing that this would happen and he moves his hand to rub against John’s face, comforting him, letting him know everything’s fine and nothing needs forgiving. The Alpha smiles into the kiss and Sherlock smiles back and it’s sappy as they both try to keep kissing but can’t make their mouths move properly. They end up laughing, foreheads pressed together, time itself passing by as they have their moment of unbridled joy.

As the laughing slows down, John rumbles deep in his chest and rubs his scent gland onto Sherlock, starting everything back up after they’d gotten off topic. He pulls back and smirks down at the man under him.

Sherlock responds by shifting up and nipping at John’s lips like the Alpha had done to him, letting him know that the time for being sappy is over, he hasn’t gotten to come yet after being denied twice and he _wants_ it. _Now_.

John wordlessly agrees, smoothing his fingers along Sherlock’s shaft and applying pressure at just the right time near the base to make the Omega’s hips push up into his hand. He gathers the little spurts of precum as the Sherlock starts leaking again, his insides quivering around the Alpha’s hard cock which plugs him full. John fingers work over his sensitive length, bringing him closer to the edge with each stroke.

John knows he could get addicted to this feeling really quickly, controlling the speed that Sherlock’s hole clenches around him by gripping him tighter or looser. Each time he changes how he does it the Omega below him whines and grinds up against him, his stomach muscles tensing and his body driving the Alpha to grind into him. John’s hips start to work of their own accord, his control slipping as his Alpha once again takes over for him, growling and rumbling out pleased noises as he rocks his inflated knot into Sherlock’s body, pressing against his prostate repeatedly.

The Omega whines and tilts his neck, presenting it for John, indicating it’s almost time, that he’s getting close to his climax. The Alpha tightens his fist on Sherlock’s cock and licks over his scent gland, sealing his lips over it as he continues to shallowly thrust and grind his knot against his insides.

“Yes — Alpha, yes.” It’s Sherlock’s voice but it’s his Omega speaking. “Mate me, _please_.” The detective under him is shaking and shivering, mewling as his hole tightens rhythmically on John’s length, his body desperate to finish them body. It’s only a few more strokes of John’s hand and Sherlock’s body goes ridged as he finally comes, his small Omega cock pulsing in John’s palm, coating him in hot clear liquid.

Sherlock’s insides clamp down on him, pressing on him and forcing a growl from his mouth, his tip gushing out his thick seed, filling up the Omega. John quickly leans over and bites into Sherlock’s offered scent gland, breaking the skin as their bodies are both in total ecstasy. The Omega doesn’t even feel the bite, the overwhelming sensation of being pumped full of cum overriding any discomfort he might otherwise feel.

Together they float in the void as their scents begin to change, their bodies adjusting to the new normal that is their bond. Alpha and Omega together in a bond only they can share, one that will change them both are more levels than they realize.

When they’ve both finished shuttering, they slump together, muscles relaxing from their previously tensed states. John unclenches his jaw and pulls his teeth out of Sherlock’s neck. He immediately starts licking at the wound, lapping at the mark to seal it up. The Omega sighs and keeps his head still to give John all the room he needs. He unconsciously starts purring at the sensation, his relaxation allowing for the noise he doesn’t think he’s ever made before. John grins as he continues licking at the wound, enjoying the vibrations in his chest coming from Sherlock, the purring mess below him an example to his Alpha side that he did his job perfectly.

When he’s finally satisfied that the new bond mark is sealed John kisses Sherlock’s cheek. “How are you doing Love?” He says, voice a little rough from all the growling he was probably doing without realizing it.

Sherlock tries to answer, but his own voice cracks and he has to swallow a few times before he can get anything out. “I’m not sure. A bit overwhelmed to be honest.” He admits quietly, the purring stopping as his Omega side leaves and the detective comes back.

John gives him a few more kisses, peppering his face with light little pecks. He soothes his hands up and down the Omega’s sides, letting him relax as he tries to process everything that just happened. It’s completely normal for Omegas to loose themselves to heat, it’s up to the Alpha to take care of them and while Sherlock is in this vulnerable state of post heat and bond, his senses are on full alert. But all seems quiet in the flat as they lay together, basking in the glow of their bonding.

A mating knot takes a long time to go down, so they get plenty of time to be gentle with each other again, now that they have the time. John nuzzles his face against Sherlock’s, rumbling in his chest, thrilled to be mated to the detective. In response the Omega wraps his arms around John’s back and hugs him close.

As John continues rubbing over Sherlock’s body, he moves his way down and finds the bump of his cum, which he can feel through the Omega’s stomach. He rubs over it repeatedly, humming out pleased noises as he releases more scent into the air, which smells different even to himself now that he’s mated. It’s a completely territorial response, laying claim over his mate so that no one would dare question that _this_ Omega is _his. _It doesn’t matter that they’re all alone, knotted together in a clear bond, his Alpha needs to protect that bump. His rational doctor brain would normally be smacking him on the head, telling him that no pup will come from this, but he’s not listening right now.

“John?” Sherlock says, but his voice seems far away and the Alpha simply keeps rubbing over his stomach. “John!” The Omega says more firmly and John’s hand freezes. He looks up with a slightly embarrassed look on his face.

“Hey. Ah. Sorry.” He takes his hand off Sherlock’s stomach, scolding his Alpha for being so weirdly creepy about filling the Omega with pups.

Sherlock chuckles and runs his own hand over his stomach, groaning when he feels how full he is. He won’t admit it to John yet, but he’s never felt so satisfied, he can tell the Alpha’s control is at its lowest, so best to wait until another time to mention loving being filled. “It’s fine.” Sherlock echoes John’s favorite statement and the Alpha laughs, smiling down at him.

“I don’t want to change the mood so suddenly but — where did you tell Iris to run off to?” He suddenly feels a little embarrassed to know that everyone in the nearby flats are probably awake from how loud they just were.

“He’s in your room.” Sherlock says with a little shrug.

John groans. “He’s going to smell like me.” He says as he puts his forehead on Sherlock’s check, avoiding eye contact, but Sherlock can feel as John’s cock pulses inside of him, the Alpha coming a small bit at the thought of the pup covered in his scent. After a moment John apologizes. “I’m sorry that I like him the way I do. I just want you to know that I was never trying to hurt you, I’ve been trying to get your attention but he kept getting mine.”

Sherlock smiles. “Iris never learned to hate Alpha’s like I did. I tried to teach him with Lestrade that not all Alpha’s were bad. I didn’t want him influenced by my experience and so he’s willing to be open and spend time with you. I however kept to myself and hid my feelings from you because I thought you would just hurt me. I was honestly persuaded to share a flat with you because of how much your scent affected me the moment you walk into the lab. I thought I would study it, but I didn’t know Iris was an Omega and that almost made me change my mind.” John looks up concerned. “It was only after you proved yourself, shooting the cabbie for me, that I knew something else was there, but I still hid from you. Iris was open to you and because of that you turned toward him even as you wanted to pursue me. I don’t blame you for that.”

John has a slight frown on his face. Everything Sherlock is saying is true, even if he didn’t realize it before. Every time he wanted to be closer to the detective it seemed like he was pushed away and there was Iris instead. He could have had Iris from the beginning, even if he’s still unpresented it’s not like they couldn’t have done things. But they didn’t, not only because Iris feels too young for him, but because John always held back because Sherlock was who he wanted first. He would have time to pursued Iris if the younger Omega wanted later, but his chance of catching and mating Sherlock was something that felt like it had a time limit. Like if he didn’t take the chance quickly, he would be left forever never knowing what could have been.

“So, Iris explained everything — everything that happened?” John feels nervous even though he knows he doesn’t need to be. Sherlock would have never let this all happen if he didn’t believe them.

“Yeah. He said that he had been accidentally tempting you.” Sherlock’s face has a slight bit of amusement on it. “I had noticed it and originally it made me mad but I don’t think he honestly knew what he was doing.” John nods his head.

“He doesn’t understand why he’s doing certain things, his instincts are pushing him and he has no idea how to react to it. It’s like when Alphas meet we just naturally have a stare down even if neither of us were taught to do so.”

“Iris told me that he was making his nest and got overwhelmed by my heat scent and you watching him make the nest.” Sherlock starts.

“Believe me, being overwhelmed was mutual. You’re scent was driving me feral and watching an Omega make a nest is really weirdly sexy to my Alpha.” John gives a small chuckle.

“But even after you both fell into instinct and gave in, you were able to stop.” Sherlock pauses and watches as John’s face changes. “You left him. You went to the clinic like I told you to.” The Alpha looks down, his smile gone. Then he looks back up, zeros in on Sherlock’s eyes.

“I didn’t want to.” John stares at him, hurt in his eyes. It had killed him inside to touch other Omegas the way he wanted to do with Sherlock. He had only gone so far, barely touched them beyond what was required and he still felt guilty even for that much.

“I’m sorry, I should have never asked you to do that. I don’t think like you do, I didn’t consider that it would hurt you, that you tied sharing someone’s body with an emotional connection, I was in denial of my own feelings in that regard. But Iris said when you came home, you looked like you had been emotionally drown in the Thames.” Sherlock takes John’s face in his hands.

“I — I didn’t want them. I just kept thinking of you. But I knew I had to do it — because if I didn’t I could accidentally hurt you or Iris.” John closes his eyes and nuzzles into Sherlock’s hand.

“I know and you will _never _have to go back there again. You are _mine _now. Iris said you helped him — helped him when he woke up under the spell of the false heat. You treated him respectfully as you could and took care of him after, when he was confused.” John nods. He could have never left Iris there alone to clean himself up but he cares too much about the pup to leave him like that.

“I like Iris, more than I should. I _wanted_ to touch him, but I didn’t have permission. I apologized to him because I still did more than I should have. I should have left the flat.” John chastises himself.

“No, no. You did good, sooo good. My good Alpha. You treats us both so well, more than I deserve. You couldn’t leave him like that, he would have tried to follow, would have cried and felt rejected if you left.” Sherlock gives John’s nose a small kiss.

“So wait, if you knew this whole time that I was telling the truth. Then, why did you let me leave that night? Why did you let me think you were mad at me?” John gets a little angry, backing up from Sherlock, tugging on the knot as he sits up. “I — I left and got called to the clinic and — bloody Christ, I almost mated someone because I was so upset with how you were treating Iris and I felt useless. If — if you had told me I might not have accepted — I might not have tried to feel helpful somewhere else…” John’s face is cold.

“I didn’t know yet. You told me to talk to Iris and I did, but not until _after_ the explosion in the morning.” Sherlock stares into John’s eyes, making sure he understands. “It was too late by then. I’m sorry. Truly.”

“Right. That — yeah, that makes sense.” John looks down and takes Sherlock’s hand in his own, not yet ready to have full contact again but wanting to feel connected anyway.

“But I shouldn’t have been mad at either of you. I had been so overwhelmed by my heat I wasn’t seeing things straight, I was hurt because I was jealous that you seemed to like Iris more, when I knew that wasn’t true. I was hiding from you while Iris was happy to be by your side and interact with you. If I had just been more open, you could have spent just as much time with me.” Sherlock doesn’t want to make excuses, he knows he was keeping back from John, acting as if Iris was himself, letting Iris do the things he wanted but felt like he didn’t deserve. As if watching from the sidelines he could observe what he wanted without having to commit to anything. “Iris said you wanted to court me, but that you still wanted him and I to keep our relationship and that in the future we could see where it went between the three of us. That maybe you would court him as well if that’s where life happens to leads us.” Sherlock takes John’s other hand into his own, mimicking the Alpha.

“I did, I _do_. I want to maybe court him one day, but I didn’t want that before I took my chance with you. I —I’m sorry Sherlock. I didn’t mean to try and mate the Omega at the clinic. I was so overcome, he looked exactly like Iris, he smelled so similar and the virgin scent just over took me. This is why I wanted to talk to you before we mated, I didn’t want you to know how unworthy of a mate I was for almost falling into the trap. Moriarty was right. I should just be neutered like a dog. How could I ever be a good mate to either of you?” John shakes his head, tears suddenly falling from his eyes.

“_No_, never say that again. Don’t you see, Moriarty was manipulating you, that’s what he does. The Omega looking like Iris wasn’t a coincidence, he knew what he was doing. He wanted your Alpha to be put under the spell of the virgin scent and you _were_. I could _never_ blame you for that, it’s not something you can control. Please don’t chastise yourself. Both Iris and I have been under the influence of your scent for months as have you with ours in return. That’s just how our natures work.” Sherlock grabs a hold of John and pulls the Alpha against him. John lets himself be pulled downward into a tight hug. They breathe together for a while, both wanting to be close and finally John lets out a long breathe and relaxes into the embrace.

“You’re right. You’re always right.” He nuzzles into Sherlock neck, breathing in the calming scent of meadow grass. Moriarty had used him against them but that didn’t make him a bad Alpha, losing to instinct wasn’t something that could be controlled and feeling bad about himself wasn’t what he should be doing. He’s been acting stupid, he was manipulated into a bad situation and that isn’t his fault.

“Well, not always, clearly.” Sherlock smirks.

“You both mean so much to me. I was scared that after all this, I was going to lose you both.” John confesses.

“That’s _not _going to happen.” Sherlock assures him.

“You sure you don’t want to cut your losses now. I can’t protect you from Moriarty, he’s too smart and I’m just an old Alpha with PTSD, an illegally obtained weapon that I like to obsessively clean sometimes, and an inappropriate crush on your pup.” John pulls back looking at the detective’s face.

Sherlock laughs. “We are never letting you go. Iris and I want us to be a pack, all of us together. You are somehow exactly what I never knew I needed. You are protective, dangerous, caring, and _much_ smarter than you think. You’re creative and bring me down to earth. You told me to observe things differently and had I taken your advice sooner Moriarty may not have fooled me so easily. You may be a ‘normal’ man, John Watson, but that’s why you are perfect for me, why we are perfect together. Because you’re _never _afraid to tell me when I need to check myself, when I’m being too harsh but you also don’t give up on me if I tell you I don’t care. You don’t need to protect us from Moriarty, that’s my job. Your job is to keep us safe from all the others and I can’t think of a better person for the job.”

“You’re a lunatic, _absolutely mad_. God I love you so much.” John grins, ear to ear.

Sherlock freezes for a moment. “I.” He swallows. “I love you too.” His voice is tiny, but not unsure. The Alpha nuzzles his face against the Omega’s and Sherlock loosens up nuzzling right back.

They lay together, breathing in sync as they wait for the knot to go down. It’s relaxing and perfect, John would dare say he’s never felt more calm in his entire life. Thinking about the three of them one day being a full pack has him smiling. It’s something that never happens anymore, something that so many people would shame them for because monogamy somehow became the normal over the years. But it doesn’t feel shameful to him, it feels like it would be perfect, like they would be great together. They’ll just have to wait a few years for Iris, John wouldn’t mind doing it right now but he still feels like the teen is too young to make that decision, even if he’s way too smart for his age.

When the knot is finally gone he pulls out of Sherlock, and is terribly turned on when he sees that none of his cum leaks out, the Omega’s body having sealed itself up. His body holding onto the seed for as long as it can. He’ll own the Omega’s womb for days and he’s going to take advantage of that as soon as he can, already wanting to caress the bump again.

“You should go check on Iris.” John says. He can only wonder what the little Omega got up to while having completely free access to his bed covered in Alpha scent. If the teen hadn’t wanked himself into a coma by now, he’d be genuinely surprised. The Alpha smirks at the thought of a satisfied Iris nesting in his bed after getting off on his scent. He might just have a late night wank himself once he’s in his own covers. As much as he would like to sleep in the Omega’s nest tonight, he doesn’t want to overstep his bounds and there will be plenty of time for that later.

Sherlock hums affirming, getting out of the bed and stretching with his back turned, his arms reaching up into the air, toes pointed. John blatantly stares, taking in the sight of the pale skin of his newly bonded mate. He reaches out and gives a playful slap on Sherlock’s ass, causing the detective to yelp and bounce away rather quickly. John gets a little scowl but he just winks and Sherlock’s face turns a little red before he’s around the corner and headed to John’s room, still fully naked.

The Alpha lays back on the bed and stares at the ceiling. He can’t help the giddy smile that won’t leave his face. These last few months have been crazy, some of the best times he has had in his entire life. To be honest, he’s almost glad he got shot. If he didn’t he wouldn’t have found his home. As he goes to get up and put some pants on he hears quick footsteps on the floor above him.

“JOHN! JOOOHNN” Sherlock shrieks, his voice scared like John’s never heard before. The Alpha’s blood runs cold as he takes off running to his room, Alpha instincts driving him to protect his distressed mate. He doesn’t know what he’ll find but it doesn’t matter, he needs to be there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please let me know what you think by adding a comment. I hope you enjoyed. I certainly enjoyed writing it.


	11. Moriarty's Trap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John rushes to Sherlock as he yells out for him, only to find his new mate telling him to turn back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo everyone! I am back after two months gone, I know it was a long time but I have reasons and I am finally here with the last chapter of Double Down. I know I know, you and I both don't want the story to end but this was the original ending point and I'm sticking to it. I have many other stories to write about Sherlock and John's adventures that I need to start on, so this has to be the end. I also have a real book that I am working on and this story was my test to prove to myself that I could write something that was long enough to be considered a decent sized book and while the writing style may not be the best, I am overall pretty proud that I finished the project and it's not too bad of writing for a first time.
> 
> For anyone who wonders why I was gone for so long, please look back at the previous chapter and notice that it has over 2k new words and has been heavily edited to be better than when I originally posted it. I've learned from this past year of writing that putting chapters out each month is just too stressful and I feel like I was putting out chapters too fast. The last chapter felt rushed and a few people commented about it, so I took another look and added on because I agreed with them. That is why I took some extra time to feel better about this final chapter. In the future I'll be putting out full stories, so if you don't see anything from me for awhile, check my twitter to make sure I haven't died.
> 
> Also, if anyone finds my Beta reader, let her know I said hi because she has disappeared and so everything for the last several months is not Beta read.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy and as always this is all just fantasy and I don't condone this behavior in real life. Please stay safe out there everyone!

Reaching the bottom of the stairs to his bedroom, John begins running up them before seeing Sherlock barreling down toward him. The sight of his new mate calms his Alpha for a moment as he looks him over, doctor mode kicking in. Sherlock seems to be fine, no blood or broken bones but he’s clearly panicked as he has his arms held out, palms facing John, shaking them back and forth as if to say ‘don’t come closer’. He takes another step up, wanting to get closer and calm him, but that just makes Sherlock cry out.

“JOHN STOP!” Sherlock’s voice is panic stricken and the Alpha pauses because he can see that the detective has tears in his eyes. Sherlock gets right up to him and starts to attempt to push him back down the stairs, hands on his chest trying to turn him around. “You NEED to leave, turn around, you NEED to go, PLEASE!” Sherlock isn’t strong enough to push John around and the Alpha stands firm though confused.

“Love, Love, relax. What’s going on?” He questions, the need to calm his mate taking priority. He reaches out and pulls Sherlock in to scent him, but the Omega is squirming around and still trying to push against him. John just nuzzles his face into Sherlock’s neck, and that’s when he smells it. Flowers? Virgin? He pulls back for a moment and looks at the terror on his mate’s face.

“Why do you smell like — like a virgin Omega in heat? Wait —” John goes rigid, his whole body in shock as he remembers the smell of flowers, the smell Iris was just starting to put off as his body was beginning to present. But he’s still months away from that happening, the smell barely thre, noticeable only when the teen was in a deep state of arousal and false heat.

Sherlock cries out again and tries to push on John. “LEAVE!”

“Sherlock, Love, calm down. Tell me what happened, _where_ is Iris? Is he okay?” John looks up toward his bedroom and Sherlock slumps into his arms, sobbing.

“Moriarty — sob — Moriarty laid a TRAP!” John’s blood runs cold and then hot as his Alpha’s anger rages in his chest at the name of that monster.

“What did he DO?! Tell me! What happened?” He pulls Sherlock away looking into his mate’s face, searching for answers. But the Omega’s eyes only convey sadness as the tears start to stream down his face.

“He _gave_ Iris the serum, the one — sniff — he told us about. The one that makes an Omega’s body go into its first heat. He gave it to my Iris while we were at the pool. He dosed _my pup_ to try and trap you, he — sob — he was trying to get you to mate Iris.” Sherlock once again tries to push on John, clearly trying to get the Alpha away from where Iris is up in the bedroom, afraid that John’s Alpha will come out and try to get to the young Omega. “You need to leave, we can’t let you smell him anymore, I need to get stuff to break the heat, I didn’t get _anything_ to break the heat yet but I can find it — I can find it. I _need_ to help my pup.” Sherlock’s voice is desperate, the love for Iris outweighing anything else. It makes John’s Alpha calm in his chest to see how much his mate cares for the teen, how anyone could say this man has no heart, is beyond him.

“Relax Love, it’s okay, I don’t need to leave. The trap won’t work anymore.” John smiles, once again he knows something that Sherlock doesn’t about Alphas. He pets Sherlock’s hair as the Omega looks at him, eyebrows drawn together, confused.

“What do you mean it won’t work? You’re an Alpha and he’s a _Virgin,_ in _Heat, OMEGA_!” Sherlock’s eyes are wide as he shouts, clearly still irrational and vulnerable from the heat run and mating. The normally careful detective would never act like this if his body wasn’t warring against his normally rational mind.

“I _am_ an Alpha. You’re right. But I’m now a _mated_ Alpha. There’s a big difference.” John emphasizes the word mated, and gives Sherlock a moment to calm down as the detective’s eyes start to go back and forth, his brain starting to kick back into gear. The Alpha can see the realization come over his mate’s face and Sherlock relaxes into his hold, then begins scenting him, which prompts John do the same, placing small kisses on his mates bare shoulders, both of them still in the nude.

“Mated Alphas are not as heavily affected by the scents of other Omegas even if the Omega is in a full heat.” Sherlock’s voice is steady. John can feel his mate wipe the tears off his face and onto his shoulder. “The Alpha’s body no longer produces the chemical that makes them susceptible to an Omega’s heat unless it’s their own mate because they are no longer searching for a bond.” John smiles into Sherlock’s shoulder and squeezes him in the hug.

“Don’t get me wrong, Iris’s scent still smells amazing, and I can feel a tug on my sanity from it, we’re are still newly mated but we shouldn’t have to worry about my instincts any longer.” John pulls back and stares at his mate’s face. Sherlock’s cheeks are red and his hair is still wild from their mating, he’s the most gorgeous he’s ever been.

“You said I needed to break the virgin scent or you would accidentally mate him. You told me that right after our first case.” Sherlock says staring right back at the Alpha, looking into deep blue eyes to find out why John would have said it was the only way.

“The scent still needs to be broken for his safety and I would have mated him then, because _I_ was unmated. Moriarty’s plan _would _have worked but —.” John’s face softens.

“But —” Sherlock says.

“He didn’t count on _you_ mating me first.” John smiles and it’s dazzling. “He thought he knew what was going to happen, we we’re going to return home as friends. But you surprised him. Hell you surprised me.” His smile goes wider turning into a grin.

Sherlock looks down, looking ashamed. “I should have known that. I shouldn’t have reacted this way, I was terrified you were going to get to Iris and hurt my pup. My head isn’t working right.” Sherlock brings his one hand up to rub at his temple.

“Love. You are still affected by the heat run and our mating, you’re not yourself yet. Just relax. We need to check on Iris now. I’m sure he’s been hurting and we need to be there for him.” John is trying to keep himself as calm as possible. His Alpha wants to rip Moriarty’s throat out with his own damn teeth. The master criminal clearly has well thought out plans and ways to get to them that he would never think of in a million years, but he can’t concentrate on that now. Iris is in heat and has been that way for a lot longer than necessary. They won’t have time to track down something synthetic to break the heat, not this late at night. John knows he’ll have to do what he’s been avoiding. He’ll have to take Iris’s virginity.

Sherlock nods his head in agreement and takes a deep breath before turning around and walking back up the stairs. John follows slowly, making sure as he smells the scent heavier in the air that his Alpha isn’t reacting. When they step into the room, Sherlock makes his way quickly to the bed but John hesitates in the doorway. The room is full of virgin Omega scent, Iris’s new flowery smell heavy in the air. He takes a moment to breathe it in as Sherlock gets onto the bed and begins petting Iris’s head, making soft cooing noises at his pup. The smell is surprisingly delicate for how much it fills the room. It reminds him of spring. Whereas Sherlock’s meadow grass scent is the warmth in contrast to the cool of his own pine scent, Iris is the perfect balance between the two. The scent is like that of the little white flowers scattered in fields of long grass, the kind that when you try to smell them they have no scent, but when the warm breeze picks up your nose is delightfully filled with only their essence.

John is snapped out of his thoughts when a pained cry comes from the bed, which stabs him right in the heart. He closes the door, clicks the lock in place and walks to the bed. What he finds makes his chest ache even worse. His comforter and sheets have been rearranged into a makeshift nest with Iris in the middle. The poor teen is drenched in sweat, his dark curls matted to his forehead, and he’s breathing as if he’s been running a marathon. Sherlock is smoothing his hair down and talking to him in hushed tones, but the little Omega just whines as his body is racked with pain, as it tries to clench down, searching for the relief of an Alpha. He looks so small on the queen sized bed, legs tucked up as he lays on his side in the fetal position.

Sherlock looks over at John as he climbs onto the bed, putting himself behind Iris. He cuddles up to the Omega, spooning him from behind and letting off of his own scent, letting the musky smell permeate the room. He knows even just the scent of an Alpha will help Iris right now and slowly he can feel it work as the teen’s muscles relax a bit. He unconsciously leans back into John’s space, wiggling against the Alpha, his body seeking to get closer, needing what only the Alpha can give him.

“Alpha?” Iris says, his voice breathy as he tries to look back at John. Sherlock watches the teen sniff at the air, attracted to the Alpha’s pine scent, the comfort that it provides, the possibility of the pain being taken away that it signals. The detective is sad seeing Iris lost to his Omega, the whole thing reminding him of himself when _he_ was young. But when he looks over at John he is reassured that this will be nothing like his first time because the Alpha is lightly stroking Iris’s back, soothing him gently, not aggressive or forceful in the slightest. Just the caring doctor John he’s come to trust.

“It’s okay Baby, I’m right here.” John says lightly making Sherlock’s heart melt at the pet name John calls his pup. The Omega likes that John calls them different things. The way that he called him Love had comforted him and he’s sure Iris will feel the same.

“Sherlock. He’s really hot. He’s going to take longer to prep than you did, so we’ll need to cool him down a bit or he’ll overheat before he’s ready.” John’s doctor side is weirdly attractive in this moment but the detective tries not to concentrate on that.

“What can I do?” Sherlock asks as John sits up a bit and moves Iris’s legs, straightening one and hiking the other up onto Sherlock’s hip, letting the two Omegas keep cuddling, now front to front. Iris groans a bit but let’s himself be positioned without too much complaint. He shuffles a bit but his dad just gets closer and lets him curl into him, Iris hugging him close for safety.

“Omega’s in heat get small moments of clarity and reprieve from the heat by having orgasms. I’m sure you know how to do that for him.” John gives a small smirk and a wink. Sherlock gives a sly smile, acknowledging that he does it fact know _exactly_ how to touch Iris. But he hesitates to start.

“Is there anything you can do so that the knotting doesn’t hurt as much? I can’t imagine it being more painful than what just happened to me.” Sherlock clenches his own hole reflectively and can feel the residual burn from their mating.

“I can prep him in a different way that will help, it shouldn’t be any worse than yours.” John puts his hand on Sherlock’s face, rubbing his thumb tenderly across his mate’s cheekbone. He stares into his light eyes with as much love as possible. “I’m sorry I hurt you. If I had known about you I could have done the same thing, but at least I can do it for _him_.” Sherlock puts his hand over John’s and gives it a squeeze.

“It’s okay. Thank you.” Their eyes stay locked and emotions swirl for both of them.

“I know this isn’t how any of us probably imagined our first time together happening, but I’ll do my best.” John assures him.

“I know you will. You’re our good Alpha.” Sherlock smiles and John chuckles a bit, the mood lightened until Iris whimpers as his body trembles.

“Alright Baby, it’s okay. We’re going to have you feeling all better.” John focuses back to the task at hand. Normally, he would have killed to have both the Omegas, but with the pup in such a bad state and without his full permission it feels a little off. But if he knows Iris, the Omega will be perfectly okay with what’s about to happen because he knows they did it to take care of him.

Luckily for them all, biology likes to surpass his emotions meaning John’s already grown hard as he laid here talking, drinking in sweet virgin scent with each breath. He ignores his own body and instead snakes the hand that he had been rubbing along Iris’s back down over his pert butt and along his smooth thigh. He grips the flesh, giving it a good massage as he nuzzles into Iris’s neck, rubbing his cheek into the teen’s scent gland. Iris moans and it’s so incredibly sinful that John pauses and looks at Sherlock.

“Takes after his father.” He says causing the older Omega to laugh. He has a huge smile on his face when he looks away from John and down to Iris.

With his mood lightened, Sherlock reaches down and gathers some of the slick that is painting Iris’s legs. The poor little Omega has been up here leaking for hours, but no longer will he have to suffer. With the clear slick covering his fingers he brings them up and uses it to coat his pup’s cock. Iris digs his fingers into his dad’s shoulders, holding tight as a pleased sigh leaves his mouth this time, his breath hot against Sherlock’s chest.

“That’s right my pup, let us take care of you.” Sherlock purrs, echoing John’s earlier words as he wraps his fingers around the small shaft and gives it a few light strokes. Iris’s hips jump and he whines again, the inexperience of the teen showing as he attempts to hump into the pleasure but only manages to squirm.

“Shhh — we’ll do all the work, Baby boy.” John says behind him, bringing down his hand to run over Iris’s dripping hole. The Omega is already open, his body having naturally been getting him ready for an Alpha, but John’s experience with Sherlock lets him know he’ll need to open him up more before he’ll even have a chance of fitting inside. He’s gentle as he rubs along the rim, letting the virgin get used to being touched for the first time. John knows the two Omegas have played around but not like this, so unless Iris has been trying it himself, he’s the first person to ever get to _really_ touch him here. The thought makes him rumble in his chest as he lets out a fresh way of musky Alpha scent.

Back around the front, Sherlock has tightened his grip around Iris’s cock, but has left his pace leisurely. He strokes up and down a few times, then rubs his thumb over the top to catch the precum which is weeping from the teen’s swollen head. He watches Iris’s face for any signs of discomfort but all he sees is bliss, his pup’s mouth hanging open, pink tongue darting out to lick at plush cupid’s bow lips in-between pleased moans. His eyes try to open but the pleasurable sensations from both sides are too strong and he closes them again, biting into his bottom lip with a hiss.

John’s fingers are now well coated in clear slick and he uses it to push two into Iris’s warm tight hole. He feels the teen’s whole body tense up, his muscles unsure about the intrusion, but then he pushes those same fingers against his inner walls and the little Omega cries out in delight.

“ALPHA! Yes. Ahhhh.” The little Omega’s sweet voice cracks and he shivers in satisfaction as he moans once more, his hips angling back as he presents himself to the Alpha.

“Alpha’s here Baby, you’re doing so well, so good for me.” John doesn’t want to go too hard too fast but with the positive feedback he pulls his fingers out and shoves three back in, rubbing Iris’s insides with vigor. He quickly locates the teen’s prostate and circles around it, occasionally rubbing over the nub but not yet giving it his full attention. He needs to press against Iris’s walls, get them to open up, to lightly break so that it doesn’t hurt as much when John knots his virginity away.

Sherlock kisses his pup’s face, placing little pecks on his forehead and over his high cheek bones. Iris is gripping onto him hard, mewling as he shakes and shudders in both their steady hands. He didn’t mean to, but at some point Sherlock had grown hard as he stroked his little one’s cock. The combination of pleasuring his son and his mate’s heavy scent in the air too much for his body. He aches to touch himself but knows he doesn’t need it, he’s had his fun for the night. All his focus needs to stay on Iris.

With a flick of his wrist, Sherlock quickens his pace while keeping his previously steady grip on his pup’s cock. He slides smoothly up and down the shaft, setting a steady rhythm that has Iris’s breath quickening, his abs tightening up, and his back starting to arch. Behind him, John notices the change and circles his prostate once more before putting pressure on it fully, rocking his fingers as if it’s his cock shoving against it itself. It only takes a few more relentless strokes before Iris throws his head back, nails digging into Sherlock’s skin, as he comes fast and hard all over his father’s fingers, crying out with stuttering breathes. His rim bares down on the Alpha’s fingers and John groans knowing that soon enough that same pressure is going to be gripping the base of his knot.

Iris’s head almost collides with John’s as he spasms again, causing the Alpha to back up. His head clears, letting realize he was slightly losing himself in the scents filling the room. Iris’s scent is tempting, and he can smell that his mate is aroused too, the combined scents had him licking and nipping at the teen Omega’s neck out of instinct. It’s covered in little red patches where the blood has rushed to the surface of the skin. Not enough for bruising but enough for John’s Alpha to think it’s quiet pretty, the normally pale skin blotched. He smirks and runs his tongue over it, soothing it, pulling his fingers from the pup to give him a break, now that he’s had an orgasm to abate the heat for the moment. From behind Iris he discretely licks the thick slick from his fingers, savoring the pungent flavor and trying not to moan out loud as his cock throbs in torment. He finally puts a hand on himself, covering his length and giving it a squeeze, before lightly rubbing fingers over Iris’s rim again to collect more slick. He coats his cock and just holds it, his Alpha immensely satisfied with itself as he rubs the heavily scented liquid into his own skin, coating his glands and smearing it across the head to mix with his own dripping precum. The smell of the two combine into something heady and completely new.

Iris blinks his eyes open, confused and feeling hotter than he’s ever felt in his life. He groans and feels various things happening around his body, but he’s too exhausted to move. Once he focuses his eyes he attempts to look around just to find his dad’s face right there staring back at him.

“Dad?” He questions, feeling calm suddenly knowing he’s not alone and is protected.

“Hey pup. How are you feeling?” Sherlock questions, observing Iris’s face for anything and everything.

“Um. I’m not sure. I’m really hot. What’s going on?” Iris tries to sit up a bit but his stomach is in knots and he just ends up slumped back into the pillow. He swallows a couple times, his mouth feeling dry.

“Relax, don’t try to move, everything is fine.” Sherlock pets his hair, running his hands through his dark thick curls. “Iris. I’m sorry pup but you’ve gone into your first heat. That’s why you’re so hot. But I’m here, you’re going to be just fine.” Sherlock smiles, doing his best to reassure his son. Iris’s eyes go wide.

“W-What? Heat. But, but John said it would still be _months_ away.” At the mention of his name, John perks up, coming out of the little lewd session his was having with himself.

“It should have been.” John says and Iris jumps forward, startled by the Alpha’s seemingly sudden appearance, though all he ends up doing is busting his head on his dad’s nose.

“Wait, what’s John doing here?” Iris sounds panicked and John feels bad because upsetting the little Omega is the last thing he would want to do.

“It’s okay pup. John’s here to help, he’s okay.” Sherlock says rubbing his nose as Iris uses the little strength he has to look back at the Alpha. John gives him a smile. The young Omega gives a small smile back, then looks down John’s body realizing that the Alpha is naked behind him. When he spots the Alpha’s cock laying thick and long against the sheets, glistening with fluids, he flings his whole body back forward, burying his head into his father’s chest, a blush covering his entire face. He groans in embarrassment upon realizing that they’re all naked and the bedding smells amazingly like the older Alpha he and his father have been both crushing on. The musk of his pine scent is almost too much to bear and he buries his nose into his dad’s scent gland for a bit of a reprieve.

“Wait, it’s over already, am I not a virgin anymore?” Iris isn’t sure if he should be hopeful it’s over or disappointed that he doesn’t remember it. He tries to concentrate on his lower half, but he doesn’t feel any pain like his dad has described that a knotting should bring.

“I’m sorry Iris. It’s not over yet. You’re only going to have a few minutes before your Omega takes over again. But I want you to know that John and I are going to take really good care of you, okay?” He takes Iris’s face into his hands and makes sure to look him right in the eyes, ones that look exactly like his own.

“Yeah. I know you will. I love you dad.” Iris smiles and Sherlock can’t help but smile back. His pup has always been incredibly smart and calm in almost any situation, minus the few attempts on his life. He should have known Iris would be just as calm in this moment, even when he knows he won’t be mentally there for the experience.

“I love you too pup. I _love_ you _so_ much, you have no idea.” Sherlock gives him a kiss on the nose and then one on his sweaty forehead, before hugging him toward him. Iris gives a little chuckle. “What’s so funny?”

“You’re just a little excited is all.” Iris says and Sherlock realizes that even with all the talking, his own erection hasn’t gone down and it’s poking into Iris’s hip bone. But his pup’s cock also hasn’t wavered even with the orgasm. It’s pressed against his hip, pink tip looking pretty against pale skin.

“Well, John’s scent _is_ a little strong right now.” He says, blaming the Alpha when he knows the thrill of getting Iris off also contributed. He can smell that he too has been putting off scent and the three are all mixed into the air, smelling like a warm spring day.

“Why isn’t my scent affecting him? Shouldn’t it be driving him crazy?” Iris questions, though his eyes are fluttering and Sherlock can tell the young Omega is starting to be affected by his heat again.

“John and I mated. He’ll never be affected like that again.” Sherlock assures him.

“Took you two long enough.” Iris says, a small smile on his face, no shock to be found. Happy that his dad isn’t going to be alone anymore. That he has someone who’s strong by his side who will love him like he should be loved.

Iris’s body doesn’t give him much longer and John can smell flowers as a fresh wave of slick leaks down onto the bed. He immediately gets back to work, scooping up the liquid and digging his fingers back into the young Omega, stretching his rim out little by little, as he massages his insides. This time, the Alpha avoids touching his prostate, not wanting to overstimulate him. Since he had the orgasm, Iris isn’t jumping around but laying still as if he’s melted into the bed, relaxed before the heat comes back fully.

“Baby, can you lay on your stomach? It’s going to be easier to take the knot that way. I’ll roll you over right after.” John gets up and starts to roll the teen but he fights back a bit.

“Dad. Can I lay on you? I don’t want to let go.” Iris pleads, sounding a little scared, his mask of calm slipping.

“Sure pup. Come on.” Sherlock says as he lays on his back, scooching over to the middle of the bed as Iris climbs on top, letting them be chest to chest. Sherlock takes both their cocks, positioning them so that the teen’s weight presses them together. They both sigh when their leaking tips slide against each other and Sherlock feels them throb in unison.

“You alright pup.” The older Omega says, looking up at his son who hovers above him. The teen is making little thrusts with his hips, rubbing them together, his instincts pushing him without him noticing. Iris licks his lips and stares down at his dad. He parts his cupid’s bow and lowers himself down onto his elbows, his lips just above Sherlock’s. Closing his eyes, he waits there for a moment before closing the small gap, kissing his dad.

John watches everything from the side as the Omega’s get into position. He doesn’t want to interfere and staying still has earned him a front row seat to the two Omega’s make out session. His own breath catches in his throat as he watches Iris swoop down and then hesitate, his confidence not enough to do it in one shot. The moment drags on but then Iris’s lips are on Sherlock’s and the teen is kissing his dad, his lips starting to part as his more experienced and dominate father opens them with ease, sliding his tongue into his son’s mouth. The Alpha simply stares wide eyed at the display of passion that starts to heat up quickly.

Iris begins grabbing onto Sherlock’s shoulders, his heat starting to ramp up and his lower body squirms against his father. John takes that as his que to get started. He gets up, sadly leaving the wonderful sight of the Omegas and moves down the bed. Sherlock’s legs are spread with his knees up and Iris is doing a wide split, letting John get a great view of both the Omega’s holes. He groans a bit at the absolutely pornographic sight of the two, both leaking slick, one hole beautifully used already, red and puffy. While the other is still pink and just starting to gape, ready to be used.

The two Omega’s don’t notice as he sits between their legs and admires the view before running his hands up Iris’s alabaster thighs. They’re covered in slick and with the prep time he still needs for Iris, he has the perfect opportunity to taste. John sinks three fingers back into the teen and hears their kiss break for a moment as he cries out. He goes back to stretching him, moving his fingers in and out of his rim, while he lowers his face to a thigh. He takes a whiff of slick before running his tongue along the pale smooth flesh. The little Omega squirms more and John takes his knee in his hand, steadying his leg as he sucks at the skin, working his way up.

The teen smells and tastes delicious, the slick warm on his tongue, the scent almost enough to make him lose control. But he’s experienced and he keeps his Alpha at bay, even as he rumbles in his chest each time he gets another mouthful of sweet nectar. He sucks and nibbles at the flesh and he can’t see it but Sherlock can feel each time he does it because Iris’s cock twitches. John finishes one side and moves to the other, testing out how his fingers fit as he goes between them. He widens his digits to see if a fourth will fit and gets a little peak inside of Iris’s hole, which he fills with another finger. The other thigh is slowly cleaned of slick, his tongue drawing patterns into flesh.

Once John is satisfied that Iris is clean he draws back to see his work. The little Omega’s backside is looking similar to how the Alpha left his neck, little red spots from where he nipped just a bit showing up and looking pretty on pale skin. John checks the Omega’s rim again but he’s not yet ready. The Alpha however feels like he needs to bury himself in something. His cock has been aching, jumping, and leaking this entire time and it’s driving him mad. He looks down and a grin spreads on his face as he sees his mate’s used hole right there for the taking. John sits fully on the bed and tucks his own legs under the Omega’s, so his pelvis is just the right height for his plan.

Pulling his coated fingers from Iris, John wets his cock before placing his thick head at Sherlock’s entrance. His mate moans, his legs spreading further and John takes that as an okay to sink into his hole in one swift motion. The heat and pure bliss of his mate’s inner walls clamping down on him from all sides make him growl out. He releases more scent into the air and can smell when the Omega’s do the same, responding to him. His fingers get placed back into Iris, still slowly stretching the teen, to get him ready. But he can barely concentrate on his task, cock being massaged by Sherlock’s hole clenching around it rhythmically, keeping him warm and surrounded as he sits there. He sinks further in, putting his slightly forming knot in, watching it slowly be swallowed before pulling it out again. It’s shiny and coated in slick, the smell of fresh meadow grass heavier as he puts it in again.

The Alpha’s never been able to do something like this, pushing and pulling his knot from his mate, as least not for very long. Usually the urge to lock in too strong, but he’s already filled Sherlock to the brim, which lets him enjoy the slower unrushed moment. The sinful vision of knotting his mate repeatedly, while fingering Iris, makes his knot swell and he has to back off, his cock red and angry to fulfill its purpose once again. Maybe his mate will let him tie him up sometime and he’ll get to do this again. He leaves his knot out for a bit so it goes down before resting it once again inside Sherlock while he finishes the prep work.

Sherlock’s and Iris have stopped kissing, the two Omega’s gripping onto each other now, both panting and moaning as their Alpha pleasures them. John determines Iris is ready when the resistance on his four fingers no longer feel like it’s cutting off his circulation. He pulls out of Sherlock, dripping in his mates slick and positions himself at the teen’s pink entrance. He does that same thing to Iris as he had to Sherlock, smoothing his tip along the rim. His swollen head slips inside easier than it did for Sherlock, the extra prep and the better position already helping. He slides in a few inches, his thicker shaft stretching the pup’s rim wider than his fingers. Iris’s back arches instinct to present himself to the Alpha clearly more prominent than in his father. John pulls out, but rewards this behavior by grasping both cheeks and massaging them with his large hands, digging fingers into soft flesh. He pulls them apart and watches as Iris’s rim gapes a little and a trail of slick dribbles down onto Sherlock below.

The pup whines at the loss but groans prettily in embarrassment when he’s gaping open, greedy hole on full display for the Alpha. His hole tries to clench shut but John just forces it open wider, prompting Iris to shove his head into his father’s neck. If he can’t hide his hole he’ll at least hide his face.

“Don’t hide. You’re very pretty.” John grins a little wickedly, enjoying the virgin like behavior that Iris doesn’t even know he’s showing. It’s cute and the Alpha hopes he stays like this, wouldn’t mind switching between the two personalities of Iris and Sherlock sometimes.

John stops teasing, putting his tip into Iris’s hole and gives a few test thrusts, only sliding in a few inches, trying to sense any discomfort in the little Omega’s movements. But as John sinks deeper into the virgin, he only feels his body conform around his cock, just like his dad’s had been doing. He waits after each inch in the red hot heat of Iris’s body, letting the teen slowly get used to being full of an Alpha’s cock.

When John is finally fully seated, he wipes the sweat off his brow, the temperature of the room hotter with the three of them and Iris’s actual heat. He’s never taken a virgin before and while his head is still clear, his body is heating up more to match that of Iris and the intense feeling of being where no one has ever been before. He rumbles a bit in his chest as he feels Iris’s insides do the same thing Sherlock’s had done, clenching and gripping him, trying to break him of his resolve.

“Oh.” Iris groans when John withdraws to just the tip. He moves his hands off of Iris’s plush ass and instead wraps them around his tiny waist, his fingers almost able to touch each other with how thin the little Omega is.

“Good job baby. You take me so well. Now, let’s get you all nice and _full_.” John says, the bit of dirty talk leaving his mouth before he even has time to think. It’s a first for him to get to talk much during sex, he had done a bit with Sherlock but his Alpha is normally in control during sex, but now he’s calm and can talk and he doesn’t stop himself.

“Going to fill you up, just like your dad.” He slips himself into Iris again, his firth thrust gentle before then draws himself back, stroking the Omega’s hot inside with his thick cock.

“A-Alpha.” Iris moans below him.

“Alpha’s here, Baby boy.” John says as he stops for a second. From his position he can see Sherlock move his arms, no longer wrapping them around Iris but smoothing them down his pup’s body and over John’s hands until they land on his ass. John almost swallows his own tongue when Sherlock grabs a cheek in each hand and spreads them wide, presenting his son to the Alpha.

John looks up and finds that Sherlock is staring at him with a grin on his face. The detective has always known the best ways to mess with him and he continues doing just that by turning his head to lick at Iris’s scent gland, causing the little Omega’s body to clench around John’s cock stuffed inside.

“How’s it feel pup?” Sherlock whispers in his pup’s ear, nibbling on his lobe as he watches John start to thrust again, his mouth open as he begins to pant, drawing more scent into his fogging Alpha brain. He stares at where his cock enters Iris, drawn in by the virgin’s beautiful pink hole that wraps around him.

Sherlock wants in on the fun if John is going to be talking like that. The desperation of their mating had been too much for words, but now it’s almost like they get another shot, just with Iris here to liven the party.

“G-Good.” Iris barely gets out, his head swimming in Alpha and Omega pheromones, his hole swallowing John’s cock, keeping him coated in thick slick, his tight hole tempting the Alpha to finish, but John is in control.

“Only good?” Sherlock questions, watching John’s reaction. The Alpha smirks darkly and Sherlock leaks a bit of his own slick as a reaction.

“Seems like I’m not doing a good enough job then.” The Alpha says before drawing back and slamming into the young Omega. It jostles both the Omega’s on the bed and Iris squeals, his rim tightening around John causing the Alpha to growl as his starts thrusting faster into the tightness, seeking his own desires that he’s been denying himself.

Iris feels as if his spine is on fire, he’s swimming in and out of consciousness, the heat no longer painful, satisfaction the only thing he can feel anymore. John’s cock splits him open and it’s better than he had imagined, the raw power behind each thrust adding more coal to the already burning fire of desire in his belly. The belly that’s going to get filled with the Alpha’s cum and that thought sends him even deeper into arousal, his sounds and motions no longer under his control. His Omega fully taking over, telling him to keep taking it, remind him how greedily he had wanted, and now he was getting.

“YES. YES. YES!” Iris shouts, muffled into Sherlock’s shoulder that his face’s still buried into, but John can still hear him. It spurs him on, making him piston his hips into the teen, going a little rougher than he had with mating Sherlock because his own mate is staring him down and giving him bedroom eyes that demand he don’t hold back. His knot starts to grow with that look and he growls in a bit of frustration that he’s not going to get to go as slow as he wanted because his own mate is more of a temptress than he thought.

“How’s he feel?” Sherlock asks and John’s brain tries to form some sort of answer, but his mouth just hangs open panting as he keeps thrusting into Iris.

“Does he feel like I would have?” Sherlock questions and John looks down and back up, getting finally getting what his mate is asking. Iris is a virgin and Sherlock would have felt like this, had John been the one to take his virginity.

The Alpha groans and Sherlock’s eye light up in mischief, his teasing payback for what John did to him, stopping and starting again during their mating, making him beg and whine. John gets one good thought in about how both Omegas will fit his knot before Sherlock is talking again.

“We’re going to both fit you’re knot perfectly.” Sherlock says and it’s like he’s reading John’s mind. But it’s just the detective in Sherlock finding it’s way into the situation, saying out loud what is playing out on John’s face, the Omega reading him like an open book.

“Fuck yes.” John growls out, his knot swelling. He doesn’t let up for a moment, instead shifting his hips to find the right angle to make Iris cry in pleasure.

“Fill him up Alpha.” Sherlock says and it’s the most sinful thing John thinks he will ever hear come out of those lips.

“Yeah.” John says breathlessly. “You want me to fill _your_ pretty pup. Fill him up like I’m going to do to you again soon.” John says and Sherlock’s eyes sparkle with delight. “Going to have you both so full, you’ll be giving me pups. Beautiful pups, smart pups.” John snaps his hips forward, knot pulsating at the thought of getting both Omega’s pregnant in the same night. He knows it’s a long shot but fuck does his Alpha crave it.

“Do it Alpha. Knot him, make him all yours.” Sherlock nibbles at Iris’s neck and shoulder.

John changes his position, determined to find that spot, shifting further down to make his cock drag deliciously along Iris’s insides. When he hits it, Iris’s whole body jerks and the little Omega cries out.

“A-Allll-PHA!” He yells, then hiccups as tears of pleasure start to fall from his eyes. Sherlock kisses the side of his face and whispers to him, but John isn’t paying attention, too focused on pounding into the virgin’s hole, taking everything he can, hitting that spot over and over, pulling moan after strangled moan from Iris’s lips. The little teen tries to talk but the words are too garbled together, not making any sense as he blabbers. Even if he could have said something the Alpha wouldn’t have heard him, too entranced by the feeling of Iris’s rim starting to stretch around his knot. He’s as big as he’ll get outside of an Omega and he can not longer give the long strokes like he had been doing.

Instead, John begins grinding the base of his knot into Iris on each thrust, swiveling his hips side to side before thrusting once again. He repeats and motion, watching as each time Iris’s rim stretches a little more, swallowing him little by little. This is always his favorite part, watching himself take an Omega’s rim to it’s limit, knowing that once he slips in for the final time there is no way to get back out. Iris’s rim is getting red and looking abused like his father’s and John rumbles appreciating the erotic sight.

“Keep him open for me.” He stares up at Sherlock and the Omega nods before pulling more on Iris’s ass cheeks, opening him wider and letting more of John’s knot breech his son.

John he yanks his eyes away from Sherlock to watch the final strokes, to watch the final moments before he knots Iris’s and takes his virginity away for good. He thrusts hard and the baby Omega whines and clenches.

“Come on Baby. Come on. Take Alpha’s knot.” John says above him, pushing hard against the rim again, grinding and grinding, feeling the teen letting up.

The Alpha’s knot plunges in with one last powerful thrust and Iris’s rim bears down on the base to keep him in tight, the teen’s body determined to complete the mating. John howls out as his knot begins to inflate. He locks eyes once again with Sherlock and shallowly thrusts, rubbing his flesh across Iris’s prostate. The little Omega whines, his walls milking the Alpha, attempting to get as much seed as possible. John can feel the exact moment when Iris comes, his walls baring down in one final attempt and the Alpha takes it, gripping the teen’s tiny hips and digging as deep into him as he can, feeling his swollen and sensitive tip make contact with the entrance to the young Omega’s womb. John let’s himself go finally, closing his eyes and moaning low as he releases warm cum into the deflowered Omega’s belly. John gushes with wave after wave of seed, his body giving it all he can as they stay seal together, his knot locking them in place.

Sherlock can feel Iris’s come against his stomach and is happy to know that John’s prep work made his pup’s first time pain free. As he listens to the two of them moaning through their orgasms he feels Iris’s stomach swell against his own. His cock which has been getting some friction and pressure between their bouncing bodies throbs.

John doesn’t move for a while, panting into Iris’s back, gasping for breath. He regrets looking away from Sherlock because when he locks eyes with him, Omega’s bedroom eyes haven’t faded, if anything they’re so incredibly intense he wishes he could jump back on his mate and make those eye close again in extasy.

He has to stop looking, he needs a moment before his usual second orgasm but his mate surprises him by letting go of one of Iris’s cheeks. He snakes his hand down and between their bellies. John isn’t paying much attention, getting his breath back, that is until he feels Sherlock’s hand rubbing against his tip through Iris’s stomach.

He had done the same thing to Sherlock and now the sneaky Omega was turning it back on him. He whines and pulls back on the knot, trying to get away from the oversensitivity but Iris whines and he holds still instead not wanting to hurt him.

“Love. Ah. Love please.” John pleads a bit, not worried that Sherlock will see him as less Alpha if he does so.

“Come on Alpha. I told you to fill him up, he’s not as full as I am.” Sherlock pouts as if he’s unhappy with his son not getting his fair share of the Alpha’s cum. John knows he always pours out more on the second round, it’s normal for Alpha’s to release more once the Omega has been plugged up, biology and all that.

“It’s Babies first time, I don’t want him to be uncomfortable.” John protests but his breathing becomes more labored as Sherlock continues to rub over the head and he pushes in deeper and the sensation, rocking his hips in time to Sherlock’s rhythm.

“Alpha, please.” Iris’s voice comes out and it doesn’t sound like his Omega, even if the words seem like it would be. “I want more. Give me more.” He pleads and John isn’t one to deny the Omega’s anything. He grinds faster and harder, as Sherlock puts more pressure onto his tip, rubbing over Iris’s belly.

“Yes Baby. Fill you up as full as you want. Whenever you want.” John growls and as Iris moans he tips over the edge, a crack of lighting up his spine and John dumps cum into Iris, thick ropes of it pouring from his aching tip, swelling the teen’s normally flat belly even further.

By the time his brain comes back, Iris is relaxed against Sherlock purring, his dad nuzzling at him, the two exchanging little kisses.

He releases his grip on the teen’s hips and gently rubs his hands along the two Omega’s stomachs. They’re both round and full, his Alpha hums pleased with his success. As he rubs them both, he feels Sherlock’s cock hard against his hand, his mate hasn’t gotten off yet and he vows to fix that, soon as he can.

“Alright, on your side, careful now.” John says as he picks up Iris and they all maneuver themselves so that John is spooning Iris while he waits for the knot to release. He buries has face into Iris’s neck, smelling fresh flowers and listening as the two Omega’s continue kissing.

Everything seems slow and relaxed now, Iris’s body temperature goes down and the teen can be heard lightly snoring. The mated pair share a look and a giggle at Iris’s expense. The poor teen is clearly exhausted from everything that’s happened and they both lay still so as not to disturb him.

Eventually, the knot deflates and John pulls his still stiff cock out of Iris’s warmth and is pleased to see no cum drips out, the teen’s body having closed up to keep a hold of the Alpha’s seed in order to guarantee a pup.

John sits up and lightly picks up the deflowered pup, moving him to the side of the bed, tucking him in with the comforter. Sherlock is on him before he can practically turn around, sitting in the Alpha’s lap and kissing him fervently.

“You seem more pleased than I thought you would be.” John comments, then thinks himself stupid for it. He shouldn’t bring up Sherlock’s previous jealously issues after fucking his son.

“You took care of my pup. Kept him safe and comfortable.” Sherlock says between kisses on John’s lips and his cheeks.

“Will always take care of you both.” John kisses back.

“Take me now, just like him. Want it again.” Sherlock begs, his cock bobbing between them, red and angry at being denied for so long.

John nods before manhandling his mate until he can get him on his belly. The Omega presents himself immediately like Iris had done, his abused hole on display, dripping obscenely onto the bed. John wastes no time, he sinks into his new mate and immediately thrusts hard, setting a brutal pace like he used for the pup. It’s going to be quick for Sherlock, the Omega is already on edge.

“_Mine_.” He growls, not even paying attention to himself, knowing he can let his Alpha go with Sherlock where he had kept calm before, this time even willing his Alpha to bring itself out faster, to give to Sherlock what he was craving. He had seen in Sherlock’s face how much the Omega wanted to be taken in the same way his pup was and he was going to do exactly that.

“A-AH.” Sherlock pants out as he moves his hand down to grip his neglected cock. But John feels him do it and knocks his hand away, instead gripping the Omega’s length himself.

“Hmmm. Did someone get excited watching their pup get knotted for the first time?” John taunts Sherlock.

Sherlock moans underneath him and the Alpha knows he’s got him. He looks quickly to the sleeping Iris who is snuggled up on the other side. He lower’s himself so he can talk right in Sherlock’s ear.

“I know you like playing with your pup. Don’t you wish you could fuck him like I just did? Bet you’ll like watching me knot your pup just for you.” He says, not stopping his hips for a single moment, driving himself deep into Sherlock with each thrust. “Maybe next time I can watch _you_ play with him. Or maybe I’ll make him suck you off while you sit on my knot.” Sherlock moans into the pillow, muffling his own sounds as he bucks back hard onto John’s cock.

“I’ll pick you up and sit you on my knot, then call him in. Imagine how pretty his lips will be wrapped around you.” He squeezes Sherlock’s length in his hand, letting him picture it as Iris.

At that, Sherlock bears down on him and John can feel him pulsing in his hand which he keeps gliding along his shaft. John’s chases his own orgasm quickly, driving a few times into his mate, picturing Iris sucking off his father.

John sinks his knot in and empties the last of his balls into his mate. His knot doesn’t even try to inflate beyond what it was and John is grateful because he gets to once again, pull his smaller knot in and out of his mate.

Sherlock slumps into the bed, clearly satisfied with just the quickie. After so much tension and build up John isn’t surprised and he enjoys his little moment as he abuses Sherlock’s hole further. This time, his body is already closed off and John’s new cum dribbles down whenever he pulls out, coating the Omega’s balls.

“Enjoying yourself back there.” Sherlock says and John can tell he’s smiling.

“I could do this for the rest of my life.” John says, pushing his knot into Sherlock and grinding before pulling out again with a little pop. He pushes Sherlock’s butt cheeks together to tighten the pressure and he groans as he slides his knot back in.

“Surprised you haven’t had enough, I thought filling two Omega’s this full would put you out of commission. Guess I was wrong.” Sherlock giggles as John keeps slipping in and out, the wet squish and pop of his knot sounding hilarious right now.

“I don’t think I could go another round but I do like this feeling. Though it looks like I’ve gotten you all messy.” John removes his knot a final time and shifts down on the bed. He bends down and licks over one of Sherlock’s cheeks where he’s smeared some of his own cum. His habit of tasting himself back.

“John, you don’t have to…” Sherlock starts to protest before John is licking fulling into his hole, tongue dipping beyond his rim. The Omega’s toes curl and he buries his face into the pillow in front of him, muffling his own cries. John sucks and slurps his own cum out of Sherlock, cleaning him up before moving to his balls, where he removes the cum he had dripped there from his earlier enjoyment.

Sherlock pulls his head out of the pillow when John lays back in the middle of the bed. He latches onto the Alpha, throwing both an arm and a leg over him.

“That was perfect. We should definitely do those things you were talking about in the future.” The Omega says, his eyes drooping from how tired he is. John holds onto his new mate, pulling him in close. It’s probably the strangest day he will ever have in his life, but he can’t think of a time he was ever happier.

“Only if he agrees.” John says, but Sherlock has already drifted off. Like father like son, John thinks.

Sometime in the night Iris rolls to the side and John waking up briefly puts his arm around the teen. He notices that the pup’s scent has changed and he’s no longer putting off the scent of heat. John tries not to panic as he realizes that the end of the scent means that the teen is likely pregnant.

\-----

John is laying on the couch with a very happy, naked, and purring Iris in his arms. It’s been three days since their night together and the two Omega’s have been happier than he’s ever seen them. Together, Sherlock and John explained to Iris that while Sherlock is highly unlikely to be pregnant since it was a heat run bond, not a true heat, that the teen was most certainly pregnant. Iris had nodded his head and looked a little melancholy, but hadn’t told them anything yet and they didn’t pressure him, instead letting him process the whole thing on his own terms. Both John and Sherlock had caught him holding his belly and looking puzzled, but they knew whatever decision he was going to make, they would help him.

Sherlock had turned off his phone and was ignoring the world, happy to have a full and round belly as he walked around in John’s stolen bed sheet. John himself hadn’t felt much of a need for clothes these past days, content to cuddle his two best boys. They had taken to cuddling in the nest or in John’s bed, but had yet to mate again. The Omegas were both sore and there would be plenty of time later. John felt as he laid content on the cough, that it was getting to be time that they rejoin the world. But it seemed as if the world wanted to join them first.

Stomping on the stairs alerts the three that they have a visitor and while Iris and Sherlock don’t react, John does, sitting up suddenly to confront the intruder into his territory, his teeth already bared and scent beginning to spread. When he sees the face of a shocked Detective inspector Lestrade, he backs down, comfortable with Sherlock’s chosen Alpha friend.

“WHAT IN THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON!” The other Alpha yells, his eyes bugged out as he looks over the mostly naked party, the smell of mating and sex hasn’t left the apartment and anyone who’s not a Beta will know exactly what’s happened.

“It’s a long story.” John says.

Lestrade suddenly eyes Iris, taking in his nude form and clearly cum swollen stomach. The Alpha’s leather scent spikes, bitter with the anger that suddenly reaches his face.

“YOU BASTARD!” He goes to lunge for John and the Alpha quickly pushes Iris out of the way, but he doesn’t feel the collide of the Alpha that he was expecting. He looks up ready to fight, fists held up to protect his face, only to see Sherlock holding Lestrade back, full on bear hugging him. The Alpha is stronger but it gives John a moment to back up and talk.

“It’s not what you think. We can explain.” He raises his hands, palms up to not look threatening. Lestrade’s Alpha isn’t something he’s seen and while he could likely come out okay in a fight, he doesn’t want to test it.

“EXPLAIN! EXPLAIN! WHAT IS THERE TO EXPLAIN!? HE’S TOO YOUNG!” Lestrade is peeling Sherlock off him as Iris now does the same thing, latching onto him to prevent the inspector from going after John.

“Uncle, UNCLE! PLEASE! LISTEN!” Iris shouts.

It takes a good hour for Sherlock and Iris to calm down the Alpha, meanwhile John gets Iris a sheet from the nest and then disappears into his room since every time the other Alpha looks at him his eyes flash in anger and his scent spikes. By the time John is allowed to enter the room, Lestrade has flipped his attitude completely, the explanation given of what Moriarty did and how they had all resolved it, making him apologize to John for doubting his intentions.

John tells him he doesn’t need to apologize and that he would have acted the same way if he was in the other Alpha’s shoes. It warms John’s heart to know that if anything happened to him, Lestrade would still be there to keep the pair safe. Lestrade keeps on them about how Moriarty is clearly dangerous and it takes another hour before the Alpha leaves with a new mission to get any and all information he can on Moriarty. Sherlock doesn’t think he’ll find anything and discourages him from even trying, knowing that if he looks too deep, Moriarty might just end him.

Everyone settles down again, but now that Sherlock’s had a taste of the outside world with Lestrade’s appearance he starts up a new experiment and checks his website for potential new cases. Iris puts on some loose clothes and flits through the local paper for his dad, periodically shouting out a case that he thinks might be interesting. Everything feels right as they fall into their usual habits.

That is until later that evening when John receives a call. He recognizes the number as the breeding clinic. He considers not answering it, but then decides against it as he hadn’t given them an official no to his future services and he could get it out of the way now, or schedule a time to come down and fill out the paperwork.

“Hello, this is John.” He says.

“John, this is doctor Evans.” The familiar voice of the Beta doctor is a surprise to John, he expected one of the desk clerks.

“Yes, hello. I’m sorry but I’m not longer going to be participating in your clinic.” John figures he’ll get it out of the way, best to nip it in the bud early.

“Oh, yes. I already canceled your services after your last — encounter. I’m actually calling you about something — different.” The doctor’s voice goes quiet at the end.

“Alright.” John says cautiously, not sure what to expect. He remembers then that Moriarty had admitted to drugging the poor Omega teen as a trap to make Sherlock mad at him and turn them against each other. Maybe the doctor had figured it out and was reaching out.

“The last Omega, Jeremy, he was taken to the hospital and observed for a few days, to see what happened with his condition and get him well before he would be able to terminate the pregnancy.” John can hear the doctor choosing his words carefully.

“Yes, all standard I hope.” John tries to sound casual, but inside his chest, his heart is pounding against his ribs.

“Well, that’s the thing. He was fine and got better but when he was tested, — well he wasn’t — wasn’t pregnant.” The doctor says it and John’s ears start ringing, all his medical knowledge swirling in his head, his brain coming up empty with a possible explanation.

“That’s not possible.” He finally says when he realizes that the doctor has been silent, waiting for him.

“That’s what I thought too. You had already proven yourself multiple times and I just wanted to let you know because it seemed suspicious. The way the teen came in in such a terrible heat and to not get pregnant after that, it’s practically impossible.” Dr. Evans clears his throat.

The Alpha’s hairs stand up on the back of his neck, a sense of danger looming. He’s barely able to thank the doctor before he’s rushing downstairs to tell Sherlock, but bumps into Iris along the way. He stops not wanting to run the little Omega over and that’s when he notices it. Iris never smelled pregnant these past few days, he just smells like flowers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there it is everyone, the final chapter.  
I know a few people will have questions and I have a few answers here, just to sum things up.
> 
> Iris isn't pregnant? HOW?  
Moriarty's serum induces something similar to a false heat and the Omega's body doesn't have time to release an egg like they normally would in preheat. It's like a more intense version of the heat run that Sherlock willfully induced on himself.
> 
> Why aren't you finishing up the Moriarty timeline? He's still out there plotting against our three favorite boys.  
Well, my story was never meant to be this large and detailed, I got carried away and the focus was supposed to be on John and Sherlock mating, with side Iris. Moriarty is plotting and scheming like he does, but I don't feel I can write that all out and do the whole thing justice. There is no way my Sherlock would pretend die and if I made him to it, I wouldn't know how to change the characters properly. Obviously, John wouldn't then meet Mary and all that Jazz, so I think ending it here before I'd have to change entire episodes is a good stopping point. I've seen other people try to do it and it just ends up a mess. If I practice and get better at making my own case fictions, then maybe I will revisit this in the future.
> 
> Does Iris choose John in the long run, or does he find someone else when he gets older?  
In my head, Iris never even looks at another suitor, he's too wrapped up in Sherlock and John to ever even think to leave. He loves them both, feels cared for by them, and he even begins his own career in forensics, working with Lestrade in order to stay and help them. They become the perfect crime fighting trio and when Iris is in his early twenties, after he's been through college and working, he sits John and Sherlock down and asks to be their mate, officially. Since their first time, they have been regularly having sex together, sometimes just the mates and other times all three, but John and Iris haven't ever been alone, like a silent agreement that because they weren't mated they weren't to be without Sherlock. John and Sherlock both agree immediately that Iris is welcome to be their official mate and they are thrilled that he has finally chosen what he wants. John mates him during his next heat and they form their little pack.
> 
> How do Sherlock and Iris not get pregnant if they are having sex all the time?  
Birth control pills. Works in real life too. I would know, 11 years and still child free and stuffed with hubby's... cream... (Probably TMI, sorry not sorry.)
> 
> If you enjoyed please swing by my twitter, I post what I'm writing and working on, along with how many words I've finished for each story in order to keep anyone who wants updated on my future writing.
> 
> [Twitter - Follow for Updates on what I'm writing](https://twitter.com/Femaleintj18)  
Wanna chat more about the story? Have an idea or something you want to see in the future? Let me know and I'll drop a discord link for you.


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